Is the Ohio River safe to swim in?

Yah swim.

I wouldn't recommend swimming in the river as it has a lot of floating debris and is pretty dirty. If you want to swim someplace other than a swimming pool,, Caesar Creek State Park has a large lake with a public beach. While Caesar Creek Lake does have recreational boating traffic it doesn't have the through commercial boating traffic like the Ohio River does; so, it is much cleaner and safer for swimming than the Ohio River.

The Ohio River has a long history of pollution problems, from manufacturers and dumpers. It's better now, especially since a lot of the polluting industries no longer do business, but It's still pretty dirty for swimming.

I've seen lots of people jet skiing along the riverfront, but you might want to do a little research before you even try that.

Yes and no. There are inherent dangers with the river current, debris in the river (both above and below water), and traffic on the river. The river is a commercial waterway with many barges traversing the river. In addition, there is a lot of recreational traffic, especially in the City area. Another problem is that the Ohio River tends to have high levels of pollutants and bacteria, so my recommendation is to stick to a swimming pool.