CCTV of swimming pool playing in cafe

Exactly. I doubt if any of the other people are remotely interested in you anyway.

If you value the gym, pool and spa facilities you will, as you say, have to put up with it.

The same men could be in the pool themselves, looking at you in your wet swimsuit, though.

If you think you're vulnerable , give the pool a miss , and don't use it after weight training . It isn't really worth it because of the way you think .

This is not a safeguarding issue. I'm fed up of people thinking they can use that word as some sort of trump card.

You are suggesting it might be a safeguarding issue because you don't like people seeing you in your swimming costume.

If you don't like people you don't know seeing you in a wet swimming costume, don't go swimming with the general public.

Most pools I’ve been too are actually overlooked by the cafe.

in your case it’s probably been installed to get the parents off the poolside and into the cafe.

YABU

Neither do I but people dislike it because they’re concerned about something. I’m just suggesting you maybe spin that through in your mind and work out what it is that you’re afraid might happen.

I’m fat and hideous in a swimming costume, so I don’t like people watching me, however this wouldn’t bother me at all.
If anyone’s really that interested in watching people in the pool, surely they’d get into the actual pool area themselves? And how clear are the camera images? I’m betting they’re not particularly zoomed in or high definition.
If it’s a private gym then it’s unlikely anyone would pay membership just so they can sit in a dingy room looking at CCTV pictures of random, not necessarily attractive, people in a swimming pool!

@ImdunferI’m sorry but I can’t see the problem? It’s peculiar to want to watch someone watching you. Who cares if someone is watching you? Is it going to harm you and / or alter your behaviour?

It seems like it’s been done to allow parents to watch their children. If your worry is people using it to watch children / adults for other “nefarious” reasons I think your concern is misplaced. In today’s online world, I’m sure there’s sadly much easier ways for them to get access to want they want from the comfort of their own home rather than the dingy darkened cafe of your description

You’re not wrong. Look up GDPR and CCTV and approach it from that perspective with the gym. Seems to me they don’t have a clear legitimate reason for screening it in the seating area.

Ask the management if they can switch off the café screen when no lessons are on.
Our gym has this, to encourage parents to use the cafe, but the screen is only switched on when kids classes are in progress.

I'm with you, I hate being watched on CCTV - in all honesty I'd probably stroll in casually and switch the screen off myself before I went swimming

You’re obviously worried about this. What is your actual fear of what might happen? Sometimes it helps to write it out and read it back objectively.

Are you worried someone will watch you in a creepy way and then approach you afterwards and seem nice but you don’t know they’re not because you don’t know they’ve been watching you?

Perhaps to balance things up, they should install a large screen in the pool area and provide a live stream of people in the cafe eating meat pies and cream cakes - as a sort of inducement to visit the cafe after one's healthy swim?

Does the pool have a lifeguard? I’m wondering if it’s so that staff can keep an eye during quieter periods when there are no classes on.

I think it may be a safeguarding issue - but a positive one to keep swimmers safe.

@Imdunfer Because of the angle of the view and positioning. When swimming I can only see the first row of cafe seats, but when I walk through reception I can see the pool from a distance away because I am (a) at a higher level and (b) either standing up or sitting on a chair, not prone in the water. When I stand up on poolside I can see further into the cafe, but obviously I am not doing that, I'm swimming.

One thing I'd say is that there is literally no difference between a dry or wet swimsuit surely? (Unless the water is particularly cold I guess)

What difference would that make if it was a window would you check who was there before you got in

it’s the fact it’s gone from no one to everyone being able to watch the pool you don’t like which is absolutely fair enough I think your just looking for a reason to validate your feelings which you don’t need

just get a large micro fibre towel wrap yourself in it and leave it next to the pool in the floor doesn’t matter it it gets soaked as you can spin it and dries in 5 minutes

I agree with your feelings - but I wouldn't do anything about it.

I use 2 swimming pools, one with no viewing, and 1 with a massive viewing area, that is always full of parents (Kids lessons and adult swim happen next to each other).

I do find the one with lots of people more uncomfortable.

But I know that this is an irrational feeling. None of them matter, none of them are there to look at me - they are all there to watch their kids, and it is entirely my own anxiety/insecurity. So, I just get on with it and swim.

That is what I'd recommend for you.. the chances of a creep sitting in the cafe to try and catch a glimpse of you in a CCTV camera is tiny. Chances are no one is watching and those that are, are parents watching their kids, paying no attention of you. So although I agree it would be nicer without. I think you should be able to get past it.

If it makes you personally feel uncomfortable then you should leave the gym and go somewhere else that you think is more suited to your needs.

What you can't do is tell whoever owns the gym that it should be run according to your personal body issues about whether "a stranger" sees you in a wet swimming costume - how do you manage on holiday ?

It’s a bit odd, but it doesn’t feel like a big issue.

I think your feelings are very understandable. However this is the way life is now in lots of public and private spaces. You can be filmed in public and footage posted on social media. It's one of the things contributing to the increasing narcissism in society and the breakdown of community because it all results in the objectification of other people. Unfortunately if you don't like it you will probably have to create a life for yourself more aligned to your needs eg move to a quieter place where you can swim in the sea, lakes or local community pool without being watched. A gym is always going to be a hideous environment in terms of being watched. I think accepting that this is the way life is and making choices to build a better, happier life for yourself is the way to go rather than trying to get a gym to change. They simply won't give a fuck.