Aibu to think this is not really a public pool

[pleasemothermay1]

In my area we have about 4 pools only 2 have baby pools tried to go swimming today told its booked up with schools everyday until 2 there would then be no point in going as I have to do school run

I asked about the other pool there booked up from 10 to 3 wtf I couldn't even go in the big pool as it had lane swimming and the othe location had swim a robics

Not very public really if no one but clubs and schools who have booked a year in advance get to use the pool

Our local pool has schools every lunchtime and lessons every evening. At weekends it closes at 2pm. So not much free time for Anyone to swim.

YANBU. This is why I joined a local hotel leisure club. Do you have anything you could join locally? Or baby swimming lessons run privately perhaps?

Our local pool is school use all day, then lessons until 5pm or 6pm every day. You can only use it for an early morning swim, or after 6pm most days.

Seems like I am not the only one 🏊🏼🙁

Would you prefer school children weren't allowed swimming classes?

Our local pool is similar. Not available during the day because it's being used for schools. And their idea of an 'early morning Pre work' swimming session is a half hour slot at 8.30am

I have had this too, at one point the only time I could swim was 9pm. We are in Waverley.

I complained when I wasn't allowed to use the pool at my private gym when children's lessons were taking place because parents didn't like adults using the pool at the same time as their children. Point was, I was police checked; they weren't.
Blazing row, complaints to Head Office but the manager wouldn't budge. Always hope that was why he left shortly afterwards.
Now swim between 6 and 9am; child free.

Watching - there must be other local pools.

I'm in a small town in South Wales. All the counties pools have the same thing going on.

Unfortunately the pools need to make money or they will be shut.

The most reliable way to do this is by hiring to schools rather than hoping more than one person with a baby turns up each hour.

YANBU but it's not just baby pools. I gave up my swim membership at the local leisure centre because I could never use it when I wanted to.

Why are schools using a 'baby' pool?

Pls can someone post links to the timetables of their pools with such impossible hours for general public?

I think it was Brockwell Lido but no idea... they have gym attached to it...

That doesn't surprise me at all - lidos are always under threat of shutting down probably because they can't run lessons in them and aren't making any money during the day! Tooting Bec runs regular fundraising campaigns too.

www.better.org.uk/venues/canons-leisure-centre/timetable

Not my closest, but shows the 'teaching pool' ie the one where a 6yo can stand with their head out of the water is only available from 5.45 to 8pm.

Local pool turns out to have the small pool open 12-1 on a couple days, but I don't want to rely on that.

Also when the timetables say Swim for All at the same time as schools, I've experienced that being one lane in the middle of a pool with lessons on each side. OK if it's just you and two people mostly gossiping, but if there's five swimmers of different speeds it's tough.

Our local pools seem to do quite well, I've got three within a ten minute drive and I can always seem to manage to go when I want to. Our nearest had amazing provision during the holidays, floats and fun sessions everyday, my other has similar sessions every weekend. They always have space to have a splash around even when lessons are on.

I've found similar in local pool op. We're fairly rural so it's the only pool for miles around, access is timetabled to the nth degree, there's about half an hour morning and evening for open access when it turns into human soup - too crowded to move. Opening hours have been reduced to save money. I've not been for years now.

(re timetable Citrus posted) - I wonder if that's a staffing problem, does the teaching pool require it's own lifeguard to watch it? Only somewhat better hours on Weekends or at half-term.

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Times for Tuesday 13 September
Day Time Session Pool
Tuesday 06:00 - 07:15 Swim Club Competition Pool (50m)
Tuesday 06:00 - 09:00 Lane Swim (25m) Competition Pool (50m)
Tuesday 09:30 - 15:15 Leisure Swim with Lanes (32m) Competition Pool (50m)
Tuesday 12:15 - 13:15 Adult Women Only Community Pool (20m)
Tuesday 13:30 - 15:45 Leisure Swim Community Pool (20m)
Tuesday 15:45 - 20:00 Leisure Swim with Lanes (25m) Competition Pool (50m)
Tuesday 15:45 - 20:00 Hydra Learn to Dive Competition Pool (50m)
Tuesday 16:00 - 18:00 Hydra Learn to Swim Community Pool (20m)
Tuesday 18:00 - 20:00 Swim Club Competition Pool (50m)
Tuesday 18:15 - 19:45 Disabled Club Community Pool (20m)
Tuesday 20:00 - 21:00 Leisure Swim Community Pool (20m)
Tuesday 20:30 - 22:00 Lane Swim (50m) Competition Pool (50m)
Tuesday 20:30 - 22:00 Swim Club Competition Pool (50m)
Tuesday 21:00 - 22:00 Adult Women Only Community Pool (20m)

This pool near me only has two lesuire swims with out fucking lane swimming and it dosent have a bloody baby pool

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Times for Thursday 15 September
Day Time Session Pool
Thursday 06:00 - 07:15 Swim Club Competition Pool (50m)
Thursday 06:00 - 09:00 Lane Swim (50m) Competition Pool (50m)
Thursday 07:00 - 09:00 Leisure Swim Community Pool (20m)
Thursday 09:30 - 10:30 Aqua Fit Community Pool (20m)
Thursday 09:30 - 15:15 Leisure Swim with Lanes (32m) Competition Pool (50m)
Thursday 11:00 - 12:00 Aqua Babies Community Pool (20m)
Thursday 12:00 - 13:00 Aqua Fit (FOL) Community Pool (20m)
Thursday 15:00 - 15:45 Leisure Swim Community Pool (20m)
Thursday 15:45 - 18:45 Leisure Swim with Lanes (25m) Competition Pool (50m)
Thursday 15:45 - 19:00 Hydra Learn to Dive Competition Pool (50m)
Thursday 16:00 - 20:00 Hydra Learn to Swim Community Pool (20m)
Thursday 18:15 - 22:00 Leisure Swim Community Pool (20m)
Thursday 19:00 - 21:00 Swim Club Competition Pool (50m)

This is even more nuts lesuire swim at 7-9am 😳

My local used to have under 5s sessions at sensible times every day. Now it has 8-9am on Monday morning, one lunchtime 12-1, then one 3-4 session. Not very practical if you have a child that still naps, and/or a school run.

I go to the next city for my children's lessons. I rarely get an opportunity to swim there as their timetable is in very tight slots, although they try to get as much coverage of a range of sessions as possible. In the summer, DS was doing an intensive week of morning lessons. I managed to do a 30 minute lane swim while he was in (and DS2 at nursery) on one day. The next time I had a disappointment as it turned out that it wasn't full public lanes, but over 50s. Annoying as the demographic isn't vastly anyway and at 8.30am it seems daft to exclude a handfull of other swimmers that would select the appropriate lane and be no hinderence to older swimmers.

Still it's better than my own city. The council recently shut down the larger pool, leaving it with an aging pool with one of the three internal pools out of action due to a longstanding structural problem. The week after the closure, the whole complex had to be shut as the structural problems were affecting the safety of the whole centre. The city spent 2 months with no public or school swimming until the remaining pool was partially reopened.

I spent my holiday on a campsite with better swimming provision than this city

We are very proud of our Olympian even if no one else can get the required pool access to follow in his footsteps.

Yanbu that it's annoying when the programme doesn't meet your needs, but it is still a public swimming pool, and at least its open for some community use!

Can't you take baby along to a women only session? The pools need to make money to stay open, schools pay them to go there. Guaranteed income which is vital to them these days, rather than taking a chance on casual income from members of the public turning up.

One of my local pools. www.everyoneactive.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/WatfordCentral_MP_TT2.pdf

There are three in the area. One is a hospital pool, open to the public, disabled people go in the adult only sessions.

I feel more sorry for us adults who want to actually swim, in lanes, without floats, children messing round, people chatting mid lane. It's very limited if you work.