FEATURE
SAVE OUR POOLS
Rowan Clarke investigates why it’s more important than ever to fight for your local swimming pool.
Image: Xander McMurray
Once the outdoor swimming bug has bitten, it’s hard to imagine ever doing lengths in a chlorinated tank again. No matter how much you prefer swimming outdoors though, it’s harder to overlook how crucial swimming pools are to public health, wellbeing and safety, to communities and to the future of swimming – indoors and out.
Over the past 18 months, the UK’s swimming pools have faced a crisis. Rising energy costs, shortages in staff and facilities and inadequate investment have led to a lack of swimming opportunities for us and many permanent pool closures. It sometimes feels like our local pools are crumbling into extinction.
But all is not lost. As Swim England publishes its Value of Swimming report, smart new pools like Brighton’s Sea Lanes are opening and community groups are finding innovative ways raise funds. There’s also an increasing recognition of how valuable swimming is to everyone on all levels. So how do we save our pools?
“The magic of swimming and where it is unique is that there is some form of aquatic activity to support people at every stage of the life cycle, from parent and baby sessions through to dementia friendly sessions and everything in between.”
FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE
We’re preaching to the choir here, but swimming really is uniquely brilliant for our health. As outdoor swimmers, we know that a big element of the physical, mental and wellbeing benefits we enjoy come from simply being in water. The weightlessness, the freedom of movement, the cardio and muscular workout, the sensation of water on our skin. Being in water also levels out our differences as individuals and communities. From learn to swim classes and hydrotherapy for people with disabilities to masters swimming, lifesaving clubs and aquafit, the ways in which we can enjoy the water are varied and allencompassing. And it’s joyful, healthy, fun, bonding, bringing untold benefits for our mental health and sense of wellbeing.