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.

I would do this OP

You know you were physically assaulted and then verbally abused by a man in this swimming pool yesterday
Report the aaaukt to the police so they can secure cctv
Write to the council and advise them or an assault by a man on a lone woman, and the man sought you out/ followed you later to harass, verbally abuse and shout at you and how unsafe you felt

There will be some cctv that shows this available and the council should make this available to the police. Get a police crime reference number and add that to your letter

Then ask on local Fb if anyone else has been victim of an aaaault at x swimming pool? Or get someone else to post to ask this and if anyone replies to say yea ask them to report to council and police as this man may have many victims since he did this in full potential sight of lifeguard.

Definitely report at least to the leisure centre and if nothing comes of it a more public trip advisor review.

you’ve also answered the debate I’ve been having with myself for the last hour about whether to swim pool or lake today. Literally the only reason to swim pool is it’s closer and I’m currently paying for a membership I’m not using. I’m not using it because the lanes are too narrow, there are always men monopolising them and it’s too hot.

Report to the management at the pool copying in the sport and leisure department at the council.

Please report it.

A pull buoy is one of those little floats you put between your knees so you can swim with just your arms.

Report to the police and the pool OP, including the lifeguards ineffectual response.
The gaslighting on this thread is horrendous.
When you report, don’t speculate on the motivations of the man or the lifeguard. Stick to the facts.
Man was swimming slow breaststroke in the only available lane. You get in and start swimming faster freestyle. As you pass the man (leaving plenty of room) he pushed you down in the water by standing up and putting his hand on your shoulder. Then when you resurfaced he shouted at you but you didn’t understand the message because swimming pool acoustics.You shouted at him to leave you alone. Life guard comes over but is ineffectual and does not want to hear what happened. (Maybe he did not see, maybe he is trying to avoid having to deal with the man’s actions). Man goes to another part of the pool and you carry on swimming. Man starts yelling at you again when you are leaving the water.
If he did see, the lifeguard may actually back you up when you make the report.

Yes that's right. Blame the victim.

Op it sounds horrendous, report if you can.

I hate swimming because of the random male swimmers who somehow manage to kick me as they pass, who swim in the wrong speed lane (always slower than the lane they're in) or when I attempt to swim out of lanes, the ones who do it too and line themselves up directly opposite me, meaning I always have to swerve - and I was there first.

It's not every man, and not every time, but it's often enough that it just takes away the enjoyment.

Thinking about it too, it's never the younger, fitter male swimmers. The guys who do this are almost always older.

I'm not even that good a swimmer (in some part because I don't go regularly due to these issues - I only want to swim).

So I'd report it to the police and pool OP, but wouldn't expect anything to come of if.

Sounds awful OP. Please report.

I have never be been actually assaulted while swimming but all the entitled make behaviour is why I left my local council run pool and now pay for an expensive gym membership. I don't usually have to share a lane with anyone and no one has ever kicked me/elbowed me/got in my way while I try and overtake.

This must be a regional thing as I have never come across entitled men in my pool. The odd annoying person, male or female but that happens everywhere.

Bloody hell. formal complaint to the pool management, and you could talk to the police. I'm not sure what they will do.

But he sounds crazy.

There was another thread exactly like this.

If you want to report it to the police as an assault then absolutely do so but I'm not sure why it is the lifeguards responsibility to intervene in an argument between adults. There always seems on mumsnet an expectation that someone 'in authority ' will sort everything out instead of grown women dealing with anything themselves.

Yes, take it further. I'm so sorry you went through that.

I'm almost more shocked at the lifeguard. But...

In fairness to to the lifeguard, at the time, you just carried on swimming. He may have thought, what happened there? But you just carried on as though nothing had happened.

Obviously he should have dealt with the situation far more aggressively, getting help, making a report, making sure everyone was safe.

If you don't want to hold back swimming there, you should definitely tell them why. It is assault, it could be dangerous- but it's also costing them money.

Not all pools have CCTV though.

Report it to the police, who knows what he might do next? I might not report it to the pool first, it might tip them off to get their excuses in order.

Definitely report it. There may be no evidence on this occasion ir he sounds like a serial offender so it builds a picture? Staff and managers can't do anything about it if they are unaware.

Are you serious? It's the swimming lane. He assaulted her and this is your comment?

The rest of his shouty and threatening behaviour suggests it was deliberate

Sorry to see that this wasn't a fully supportive thread btw. It just goes to show how there is still a way to go with equality and the treatment of women.

I didn't see the bit where he held her head under water? Or did you just make that bit up?

Yes yes. That's reasonable. When in a PUBLIC pool, if someone bothers you by...SWIMMING , attack them and yell repeatedly at them. That sounds totally appropriate. Good job 👍🏼

@LuckyLil

"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."

It's the shoulder, but the fact that she couldn't breathe tells you the head was underwater, too.