Assaulted in the Swimming Pool - Worth Reporting?

[RedEcho]

Name changed in case identifying.

Today I was at my local pool, which is always very quiet around this time of year. There is always one lane up, the pool was empty apart from one man swimming very slow breastroke up the middle of the lane. I headed for the lane, he saw me and so I started swimming up one side to go in the usual clockwise direction that is standard in lanes. I do a reasonably quick, efficient front crawl. The third time of doing this, he sort of paused as I passed him on the other side (I could see him under the water) and then I felt a pressure on my left shoulder and he pushed me down under the water.

I had a couple of moments of panic where you can't breathe and then he must have removed his hand and I bobbed up. Then he started shouting at me, I don't even know what. I told him to leave me alone. The lifeguard did nothing. I resumed swimming and tried not to make a fuss. He seemed to disappear after that.

At one point in my swim, I stopped to get my pull bouy at the end of the lane and he must have been in the showers opposite because the same man walked to the front of the lane and started shouting at me again. Something to do with swimming that he seemed to take great objection to and he asked me what I thought I was doing. I called the lifeguard over and he was rather blase and claimed that we had swam into each other. We had not. I actually cried out in shock quite loudly when I surfaced and the lifeguard admitted hearing this. The man deliberately assaulted me by putting his hand on my shoulder and pushing me under, and there had been plenty of room to pass. I told the man, repeatedly to leave me alone and said that I was here to swim. I had to shout at him 5 times to leave me alone while the lifeguard did nothing. Eventually he moved away.

Once I'd finished swimming I spoke to the lifeguard and asked him what he had seen/heard. He again claimed that we had swam into each other and was prevaricative when I asked why he hadn't told the man to leave me alone and why he didn't seem to understand what that meant. I realised I was getting nowhere with him as he was probably sticking up for the other man and left.

I think what happened is that the man in the lane expected me to acknowledge him, chat to him a bit or something (I really feel uncomfortable talking to strangers in pools wearing just a swimsuit) and when I ignored him and just got on with swimming, he decided to do something to draw my attention to him, like a "she's not getting away with me ignoring me".

I'm absolutely fuming though. You feel so vulnerable when you're in a swimsuit in an almost empty pool and it was a proper assault. I mean I'm not injured, but it was horrible. I won't use that pool again, I've heard of other people having similar troubles there and I'll use a different one further away, but is there any point at all in reporting this to the police? The lifeguard is obviously going to be of little or no help and the man is only going to claim I swam into him or some other made up story.

Yes. He was aggressive, he was shouting, so yes I think potentially it does. Obviously the police need to look at it. It clearly wasn't a Sec 20 or Sec 47 but common assault yes.

What a testosterone fuel charged prick I would definitely report him and the useless lifeguard.

Both of you have it in a nutshell. I shouted at him to leave me alone when it happened in the pool, and 5 times when he was shouting aggressively at me while standing over me at the end of the pool. The lifeguard did nothing and afterwards was staring at me. Really uncomfortable experience. I couldn't say whether they were in cahoots but it came across as a man sticking up for another man in that instance at least. The lifeguard was a complete waste of time. As I say, the whole thing was really weird yesterday. Lunchtime swim, no-one else in the pool. Have they driven everyone else away?

My impression was that the man was trying to start an argument or cause me to start shouting back, at which point I could be accused of being part of it. Instead, all I said was repeatedly "Leave me alone".

Whats the betting the cctv has gone missing/been recorded over?

I am more angry and upset now than at the time.

Happy for you to do that GonnaGetGoing and either pm me or publish it here, for the benefit of others.

Oh and for anyone who is doubting that it was an assault, it clearly does meet the definition. I'd also like to point out that drowning can be very quick and that is why there are so many drowning incidents. I nearly drowned once during an open water swim and I had exactly the same sensation on Monday as I did then. Its a horrible feeling. I might be an experienced swimmer but nothing can prepare you for being assaulted in a swimming pool and your head going under the water.

For those of you who think being held under water involves being pushed by the head, I think you need to go and look at a drawing of a human being and remind yourself that there are generally shoulders on either side of the head.

There really are a lot of men out there who hate women, aren't there?

Op, do let the swimming pool know what’s happened. If you’d taken in water whilst held under water you’d be needing medical treatment or worse. The lifeguard deliberately minimised and edited this assault and effectively took this man’s side. Also the pool needs a separate fast and slow lane to prevent this nasty behaviour.

It does sound similar to this: metro.co.uk/2021/07/01/woman-dragged-underwater-by-swimmer-after-overtaking-him-in-pool-14856169/#metro-comments-container

I used to swim regularly but it became impossible because of people like this - mainly middle aged men or older and occasionally women. And you’re right, I don’t think they’d do this to a man.

Should’ve also said it’s worth talking to the police

I am absolutely sick of men thinking this kind of thing is okay. Not to mention the wet-behind-the-ears women who are happy to make every excuse for them, blame women for the fact that it happens, then accuse said women of hating men.

Just ram it.

And look at the number of women on this thread alone who are reporting intrusive behaviour when they are just keeping themselves to themselves and trying to swim. Then other PPs naturally pipe up and tell them what they are experience as at best intrusive and annoying is fine; thanks for making that decision on others' behalf.

I have a simpler idea. How about men just stop harrassing us?

@MarieIVanArkleStinks - I couldn't agree with you more.

Either it's cultural (see my earlier posts) re Eve Shaming - and I bet they do this to their own women (Bangladeshi/Indian etc) no wonder they want women only swimming in some parts of London or it's some woman hating twat of a man who likes to bully because he can or because a woman is in his way for swimming! You can bet for sure they'd never try this on with a man. Makes my blood boil.

You've only got to look at a current Eastenders storyline to see that this is being portrayed in a media soap opera and sweet FA is being done about that and it should be!

Definitely report to the police. If they don't listen go higher up. And ensure all media outlets know about this.

If it'd be me, I'd have been whacking him in the face or reaching down and twisting his goolies...

An update on this. I did contact the police, got an incident reference number and a police officer was allocated who reviewed at the cctv footage. The quality of the footage was too poor to determine anything and the lifeguard had already made an incident report to the pool in which he stated he thought it was a "collision". And thats it. The police officer didn't make an attempt to identify the man who pushed me under or interview him.

I suspected this would be the outcome but am glad I reported it anyway as doing nothing would have left me feeling worse. I think similar incidents reported by other posters to the police mentioned which resulted in more decisive action occurred in the south of England, where people are a bit more pro-active on cracking down on these things. Where I am would not be the most enlightened part of the world...

I will not be swimming at that pool again. Allied to what another woman swimming there told me had happened to her and another person, I don't think its safe. What happened to me was very odd, given that it was an empty pool apart from me, this man and the somewhat odd lifeguard, although it was lunchtime. Perhaps other people avoid it too.

As the other woman swimmer suggested, I tried a different pool this week and it was busy, with 6 people swimming in the lane at once, 4 of whom were women. No incidents at all, and it felt safe and well regulated. It takes me 3 times as long to get there, but in terms of safety its worth it. I'm actually moving away from the area in about 6 months time.

I'm normally quite stoic and tough, as a very seasoned swimmer who has seen everything under the sun following years of swimming in public pools, but this incident really unnerved me. I actually considered stopping swimming as it was just going to be too impractical but I'm going to keep going to the other pool further away.

What I will be doing in future is being far more aware of my surroundings, rather than assuming that a public pool is a safe place. If a pool is empty and there is a male lifeguard, I will request that a female lifeguard is present, if available. If there is only one other man in the lane with me, I probably won't swim though tbh that never ever happens in any other pool at lunchtime in the entire country.

Its definitely getting worse. I was followed round the changing room of a public pool in a different city a bit back by 2 men and I think unisex changing rooms and so on have made public pools even more of a beacon for certain types of men who don't really go for the enjoyment of swimming than ever before.

How disappointing (and predictable). Even so I'm glad you did report it, OP. There's now a paper trail should the same thing happen to someone else.

Swimming is my go-to form of fitness and relaxation, I always feel I've really earned my sauna and/or hydro pool session afterwards. That our changing areas are now less safe, and even pools populated by swimsplainers and men who can't leave women the hell alone, tarnishes yet another form of freedom, not least mental and physical health preservation, for us. A recent tsunami of regurgitated misogyny, on SM and elsewhere - and it's real - has set women back decades in my estimation. It's a case of once seen, can't unsee and a female, I do feel my world had become that much smaller. Like changing rooms, the railways are another place where I now feel unsafe.

I hope your new pool offers a happier, safer experience, much as it annoys me that it's always women who have to change our behaviour to accommodate abusive (or simply nuisance) men. Sadly I don't see that changing any time soon.

Unfortunately, I predicted this too. Glad you reported though

OP, Just read your update. This is v disappointing but it’s good you reported it. Is the CCTV in a bad position or does it need replacing? I hope the police advised them to do something about it. Agree with you about mixed changing rooms.

Just the usual not very distinct and by the sounds of it, quite far away. I'm not surprised either but had still hoped some evidence would have been produced.

I'm still glad I reported it. Like most swimmers, I've had a fair few deliberate kicks and scratches in my time and they are hardly report-worthy, but this was different.

I'm rather disappointed that the male swimmer wasn't traced and asked for his version, as he might just have been thuggish enough to admit to it.

FWIW I weigh barely 49kg and the man who assaulted me was tall and strongly and muscularly built.

Maybe one day the law will catch up with the different way we build and monitor public facilities one day. I've realised more and more than while the majority of users, male and female, just go to swim, theres a certain element who go for thrills and to indulge their more creepy tendencies or anger issues.

What an ordeal OP. You must have been so shaken up. I am fizzing with rage for you and I think I would have ended up coming to blows with this pig (however stupid that is).
Typical police response, what else could it be with so many Tweets to monitor?
I’m afraid this type of behaviour will only increase. The idea of unisex changing rooms is horrific. My local authority pool has mixed sauna/steam room - sorry, what?! 🤮
Don’t let this put you off your training and perhaps you could get a knuckle duster “jazzy ring” to wear while swimming/in mixed changing rooms to give yourself a bit of protection.

Sadly, this is police gaslighting. I suffered a serious theft in a public swimming pool. I was reconciled to never seeing my phone again, but hoped that the thieves who had nipped in, forced lockers and taken off might be identified. I compiled a list of descriptions of the people in the pool at the same time as me (regular swimmer, 90 minute session) so that they could be discounted from the CCTV I wasn't allowed to see - doing so would apparently prevent a prosecution.
Police suggested that I keep the list as they might lose it, 87 days later (a 90 day KPI maybe?) they left a message that watching the CCTV at the end of their shifts, they had noticed nobody acting suspiciously.

CCTV may aid the police with their enquiries (if they make them) but are of no use whatsoever to a victim of crime who might spot/recognise useful information.

@RedEcho your choice to use an alternative pool is the best option to get peace of mind.

Considering that the woman swimmer I spoke to on her way out (ironically just before I went for my swim that day!) mentioned to me that she had suffered a similar incident and the pool was "useless and not interested" and another swimmer she knew of (a man this time) had been threatened that "someone would be waiting for him outside" and also reported, again with nothing being done, it really doesn't sound like the best pool on earth, does it? Its in a very traditional sort of once thriving village, now with a relatively high level of male unemployment. I'm not going back. Its not the place for me. It also seems to be a place where women are somehow automatically mistrusted or misbelieved, or assumed not to be able to swim competently enough, or making things up, or exaggerating.

It felt like such a relief to go to the other pool, where the lane was actually busy with people who were there to swim! How that man could manage to cause such an incident in a lane with only 1 other person in it in an otherwise empty pool is incredible really.

I'd complain about the assault AND the failure by lifeguard response.
That member of staff deserves to lose his job.

Would you consider a post on Facebook asking if anyone else has experienced assault type issues at a ‘local swimming pool?’

what happened on this story?