To wish you could still just turn up & swim

My local pool has one open session you could take a school aged child to during the week.... because the others are during the school day. Theres Lane swimming early morning, then school lessons, then open, then lane, the lessons, then lane swimming again.
On a Saturday its lessons in the morning... then club in the afternoon followed by lane swimming.
On Sunday afternoon it has Family swim... if they can get a lifeguard!

Thank you. I didn’t know that about life guards

It’s not just the booking that’s frustrating it’s the lack of suitable open swim times.

Back in the coloured band days of the 70s/80s the pool was literally open and available all day over the weekend. They had a fun splash session early Saturday afternoon with inflatables out which I avoided but there was still no restrictions on when you could go. Then during the week I think the swimming club had 1 evening but there was always at least an hour or so where anyone could go after work. They’d have the usual swimming lessons after school but only for a couple of days and Friday nights it was open until 10pm which was brilliant. Now as a working adult it’s impossible to get a session unless you’re very quick to book a lane space on a Monday night. It’s either swimming club or closed.

So I’m another who pays for a gym so I have no restrictions, but it’s just me and it’s what I do for a hobby. If it was a family no way could we justify the cost.

Pre lockers you went into the changing rooms and were given a basket with the numbered wrist band hooked over it. You got changed and handed your basket into the clothes storage area.

There are restrictions on the numbers of swimmers vs lifeguards. A lot of pools struggle to recruit/retain lifeguards now.

My local pool doesn't have pre-booking but does have separate sessions. It's noticeable that the lane swimming sessions are at capacity throughout the session where the family swim session afterwards is barely getting going as I leave.

Happy post-covid memory: the Sunday after pools re-opened. 9am queue full of happy, excited children waiting for the family swim session. There was so much buzz coming off the children you could have powered a small town.

It was a coloured rubber wrist band for a session then different colour for next ...a very long time ago.

Not wishing to be rude to the people talking about booking being necessary because of capacity etc but that can’t be the real reason because only a few years ago, before covid, you didn’t have to book a set time to turn up.

There were times when a pool was closed for lessons, galas etc but even then a lot of places have two pools and one would be available to just turn up and swim in.

I wonder if it has become an issue with insurance companies getting more and more greedy and forcing businesses including leisure centres/ pools to become more restrictive.

I also wonder how long they will be able to balance the costs of maintaining and running pools against income from prebooked swimmers because I think they will be losing a lot of spontaneous customers

There’s an app to download to book/see timetable at the pool I want to use. I can’t work it out, how a non-smart phone user is supposed to use the pool, I just dunno. I’m going to turn up and plead ignorance.

I'm really surprised some pools still have the booking system, since 2021 I've swum at three different pools and after May 2021 they all went back to their pre-Covid system, no booking, just turn up.

There are aqua classes or school/club sessions when you can't go but they are clear on the timetables and easy to avoid. At all other times you just turn up, I swim three times a week and I have never known them to be 'full'.

I remember taking DC swimming over 10yrs ago when they were small.
The pool was so crowded people were less than arms lengths apart. You couldn't swim at all and the water was so cloudy it was opaque and I couldn't see my own feet ...in the shallow pool.

You can...did you call the pool or try and walk up?
Most places have an app to book a session, but that's not necessarily the only way.

I agree. Swimming, cinema, meals out. It takes all the spontaneity out of life, especially if you live somewhere like my town where all the parents are super organised keen beans so everything is always fully booked. If you haven't booked something a week ahead, literally don't bother! It's very annoying.

Yes we had the wristbands too.

I guess that is a good point. We once drove about 45 mins to a pool and they said it was full 😩 luckily then a few people left and they let us in but they had a lot of unhappy people behind us. So I suppose it has it advantages.

It’s not just swimming it’s blimmin everywhere since covid. I think conpanies do it to make more money.
As the customer it’s a pain because if you or your kid is ill etc you loose the money.

I don't mind so much having to pre-book, it's the fact the local leisure centre/pool hardly has any general swim sessions, because they have so many clubs or schools using it, or lane swimming, or aqua aerobics.... Even when they do have a general swim it's only half the pool as the rest is being used for lane swimming.

I don't mind the booking so much now I'm used to it. A year or so ago if you didn't get online when the slots went up at midnight the week before the family swim sessions you'd not get one though and it was so stressful 😂 but seems to have relaxed a bit now/ not so restrictive on numbers

What's really pissing me off though is the water temperature - far too cold at the usual pool I go to - my pre schoolers were blue within 15 minutes and no hot water in the showers and the changing rooms also freezing

Tried a different pool today - marginally better water temperature but still fucking freezing showers

We find the public swims are often empty while the family swim and the floats sessions are packed. You can take your kids to either.

One of my local pools was empty for half the morning because it had been booked by a swimming club but no bugger showed. Eventually the staff went rogue and opened it up.

I agree. It's mental.

Ugh! This is one of my bug bears. We ended up joining a private gym and it’s been brilliant just being able to swim whenever we want for as long as we want. I appreciate though we’re very privileged to have this and I really think everyone should have much better access to swimming pools.

Yea there's always 10-11 adult lane swimming; 11-12, aqua aerobics, 12-1, free swimming; 1-2, adult lane: 2-3 swim lessons and so on.
I think they should let after school and after 10am on weekends for free swimming, though they may have to limit numbers for safety.

The pool I swam in as a child, so nearly 40 years ago had timed sessions - you were allocated a coloured wristband and had to get out when a light of that colour flashed. Think it was an hour.

I can't remember getting turned away from swimming in the 80s but I do remember trying to take DD swimming about six years ago and driving a 16 mile round trip to three pools, all of which were full! Probably there is greater awareness of safe numbers in the pool for the number of lifeguards?

The booking systems have really improved this as at least you know you'll get in now with a slot booked. Our local pool will let you in if you turn up on the day but only if there's space and most slots are full by then.

The only thing that's changed here is you have to book, but in reality if there's space you can do that from the phone so doesn't require a whole lot of pre planning. Pre COVID you still had to check that there were actually public sessions on, whether it was lane swimming, women's only, clubs etc. I've swum in lots of pools over the last 30 years and there's never been any where you can just pop along whenever you fancy, there's always been certain sessions you have to align with.

Edit: actually, the Virgin Active pool at the gym used to be available pretty much all day.

Councils looking to shrink provision, everything from the council tip to pools and gyms. Impose bureaucracy, reduce footfall, claim there's no demand and close the facility.
Worse is the apartheid park, expensive tickets if your child wants to use the nicer climbing frames.
Our library has been under re-development for over a year, huge signs advertising a 'purpose-built library' under construction. It WAS a purpose-built library, now it will be a block of flats with some books on the ground floor. Several council-owned car parks have become blocks of flats, nobody is any the wiser as to what caused the loss of business for nearby shops.

I go to an Everyone Active pool. There is only one lane for lane swimming "fast lane". You are only allowed to do front crawl, and must complete 25m in under 30 secs consistently.

I don't mind booking, it's just the lack of swimming availability.

The local pool here closes at 2pm both weekend days. The nearest city in both directions closed their big leisure pools down due to costs, so it's a few hours to a pool with flumes.

It feels like the things we took for granted in the 80s and 90s are ancient history.