To be able to take the kids swimming for more than an hour on a sunday?

[Araf]

I might be totslly unreasonable here, particularly as I assumed something, but it made sense to assume this, to me anyway.

We have 2 leisure centres near us, well I say near, the closest is 17 miles the second is 21 miles, we usually go tonthe 2nd one as it has waves and a slide plus a big pool. But today i had to go run an errand nearer the 1st one so decided to go there instead.

I checked their timetable online and it said lessons until 11, then inflatables for 8+ from 11:10 for an hour, then family time from 12:10.

I thought my 9yr old would love the big inflatable but assumed that the little pool would also be available at that time for my 5yr old, so we turned up at 11:20 to be told that no adults or under 8s allowed at all until 12:10 so totally isolating any 8+ children with younger siblings. 8yr old didn’t want to go in on his own and 5yr old didn’t fancy sitting watching him for half hr having fun in the pool, fair enough, so we went for early lunch in local supermarket.

Came back at 12:20 to go swimming only to be told we’d have to get out at 1pm as it’s the adult session after then!.... I missed that bit online 😫

So we didn’t bother, paying a tenner for half hours swimming seems shit.

I was so cross, so we haven’t managed to go swimming today.

So is it me or are these times really shit for a Sunday?.... Basically if you’re under 8 you only have one hour to swim within the whole day!

Well I guess you should have checked more carefully online but I know what you mean, my local pool can be rubbish too, some days they'll happily let you pay to get in and not mention 95% of the pool is for lessons and aqua aerobics so you're stuck shivering in a corner.

Yes you’re right fred it is totally my fault for assuming that children would be able to get more than an hours swim in on a Sunday.

The 2nd leisure centre I go to, again same council run is open to all from 9am until 2pm. I’ll be sticking to there from now on but today it was in the opposite direction to the other

Our local leisure centre is a bit crap too. After a costly refurbishment, the council decided to tender out the day to day running to private companies.

So now on Saturdays, both the main and leisure pools are closed for private lessons until midday - this caused havoc when they first reopened, as so many were used to taking their kids swimming in the morning.

They also replaced the sex-segregated changing rooms with a changing village, but only a few of the cubicles are big enough for 2+ people/have baby changing facilities in them, so if you've got young kids, you're left standing about for ages waiting to go in (cutting into your pool time), and then afterwards left cold and wet waiting for one to become free so you can get dried and dressed. The cubicles also don't go all the way to the ceiling - my husband is admittedly very tall, but you can see the top of his head over them. He'd be able to look right over if he stood on his toes, so I'm hoping there's no tall perverts about. :/

(The company are also a bit lax in paying their instructors too, so a few fitness classes have last minute cancellations).

That’s really rubbish metal

My dh has a hotel membership for us to use their pool, which is great but I find it a bit dull tbh, there’s no floats or slidss and stuff. But from now on i’m just going to stick to going there and take toys as you can go anytime.

Oh dear, YADNBU.

Our local leisure centre don't bother updating any of the timetables so even if you've read it correctly it may still be wrong. (North Herts town beginning with R)

I cancelled my membership when the adult lane session was removed without notice and a class put in the lanes.

It's difficult to build up speed in a small unlaned area with three chatting people swimming side by side and little Tarquin who absolutely has to do widths.

Their reaction? "You should have called to check".
Any suggestion that they should be keeping up to date is met with a similar expression to a rabbit in the path of a BMW.
I don't bother going there now.

That’s rubbish mags

It’s a bit more expensive but I’m going to stick to hotel pools now, atleast they’re usually warmer with nicer changing rooms and often a sauna

It’s because leisure centres are private ventures instead of council run now and swimming lessons make money but actually allowing kids to swim for fun doesn’t. It’s rubbish.

You're complaining about the lack of time available to swim yet each time you showed up ten minutes later than the start time? If swim time begins at 12.10, then show up at 12.10, not 12.20. I can understand if you're running late the first time so you only showed up at 11.20 but why on Earth were you late for the 12.10 session? You then would have had 45-50 minutes in the pool.

Probably because she thought the session would be more than an hour long. That’s kind of the whole point of her post....

It certainly is Araf but fear not - I now go to the over 50 session at the local college pool.
No kids, no lessons, bliss.
Even if the lifeguards pace around looking nervous as if the clientele are going to peg out any minute.

Because coconut we normally stay in the pool for 90mins, that’s usally what the bands give you, I thought by turning up at 11:20 it would mean that 9yr old could do the inflatable thing for half an hr rather than an hour, then for the last hour could swim with me and dd. But we ended up having to hang around for 40mins before 12, so figured early lunch makes sense. Driving for and having lunch was unfeasable to get back for 12. Didn’t really think it an issue as thought thebtime slot for family play on a sunday would be more than an hour

this is happening in our council borough

open 45 mins in the days between 12-12.45 not sure about afterr school and weekends as we cant so it due to boys needs

by the time i get 2 big kids undressed(14,8 disabled)and myself its pointless

we have to drive 30-40 mins in to another city(im welsh villages) to go swimming but its a way better pool that a bog standard square one so worth the bother

as we get in free(carers)and heavily discounted(dla rates) we do it regular

If you want an example of a really crap pool, Cambridge Parkside picks up the award.
Assuming you're early enough to get in at all (can be full within 1hr of opening) if you go in the middle pool you can be chucked out if they decide to put a class or diving in there.
So if your offspring is not up to main pool lane swimming there's nowhere to go.
Despite the fact that you've paid.
Absolutely crap establishment.

There's one of our local pools we sometimes used to take DD to on a Sunday made everyone queue until the swimming lessons had finished. They let everyone in to change at exactly the same time as the lessons finished so it was chaos in the changing rooms!
I emailed as I thought it was crazy-surely start to let people in 10 minutes before lessons finish to change etc but no this was their policy. They were quite rude in their response to my point that other pools in the same borough managed it well.
And yes run by the wonderful company 6 letters beginning with a B.

Maggie, I agree and they are consistently the dirtest changing rooms I have ever seen. I reported a puddle of wee on arrival at a swimming lesson and when we left 1.5hours later it was still there