To wish you could still just turn up & swim

[Haveli]

All of the pools local to me used to have smaller children's pools where you could just rock up, pay and swim. Now you have to book a session at specific times. Dd was desperate to go swimming today but nowhere has a session. There was one 2-3 but it was already gone 2 at this point.

I get that they have lessons on at certain times but I've checked and there's none this afternoon so just whyyyy.

AIBU to think this is just stupid and annoying that you cant just decide to go swimming anymore or am I missing something?

I remember taking DC swimming over 10yrs ago when they were small.
The pool was so crowded people were less than arms lengths apart. You couldn't swim at all and the water was so cloudy it was opaque and I couldn't see my own feet ...in the shallow pool.

I'm really surprised some pools still have the booking system, since 2021 I've swum at three different pools and after May 2021 they all went back to their pre-Covid system, no booking, just turn up.

There are aqua classes or school/club sessions when you can't go but they are clear on the timetables and easy to avoid. At all other times you just turn up, I swim three times a week and I have never known them to be 'full'.

There’s an app to download to book/see timetable at the pool I want to use. I can’t work it out, how a non-smart phone user is supposed to use the pool, I just dunno. I’m going to turn up and plead ignorance.

Not wishing to be rude to the people talking about booking being necessary because of capacity etc but that can’t be the real reason because only a few years ago, before covid, you didn’t have to book a set time to turn up.

There were times when a pool was closed for lessons, galas etc but even then a lot of places have two pools and one would be available to just turn up and swim in.

I wonder if it has become an issue with insurance companies getting more and more greedy and forcing businesses including leisure centres/ pools to become more restrictive.

I also wonder how long they will be able to balance the costs of maintaining and running pools against income from prebooked swimmers because I think they will be losing a lot of spontaneous customers

It was a coloured rubber wrist band for a session then different colour for next ...a very long time ago.

There are restrictions on the numbers of swimmers vs lifeguards. A lot of pools struggle to recruit/retain lifeguards now.

My local pool doesn't have pre-booking but does have separate sessions. It's noticeable that the lane swimming sessions are at capacity throughout the session where the family swim session afterwards is barely getting going as I leave.

Happy post-covid memory: the Sunday after pools re-opened. 9am queue full of happy, excited children waiting for the family swim session. There was so much buzz coming off the children you could have powered a small town.

Pre lockers you went into the changing rooms and were given a basket with the numbered wrist band hooked over it. You got changed and handed your basket into the clothes storage area.

It’s not just the booking that’s frustrating it’s the lack of suitable open swim times.

Back in the coloured band days of the 70s/80s the pool was literally open and available all day over the weekend. They had a fun splash session early Saturday afternoon with inflatables out which I avoided but there was still no restrictions on when you could go. Then during the week I think the swimming club had 1 evening but there was always at least an hour or so where anyone could go after work. They’d have the usual swimming lessons after school but only for a couple of days and Friday nights it was open until 10pm which was brilliant. Now as a working adult it’s impossible to get a session unless you’re very quick to book a lane space on a Monday night. It’s either swimming club or closed.

So I’m another who pays for a gym so I have no restrictions, but it’s just me and it’s what I do for a hobby. If it was a family no way could we justify the cost.

Thank you. I didn’t know that about life guards

My local pool has one open session you could take a school aged child to during the week.... because the others are during the school day. Theres Lane swimming early morning, then school lessons, then open, then lane, the lessons, then lane swimming again.
On a Saturday its lessons in the morning... then club in the afternoon followed by lane swimming.
On Sunday afternoon it has Family swim... if they can get a lifeguard!

There are restrictions on the numbers of swimmers vs lifeguards. A lot of pools struggle to recruit/retain lifeguards now.

Yes that's right, the pool where I regularly swim has a limit of 19 swimmers per lifeguard. So unless there is a second lifeguard available, the number of swimmers is limited to 19.

However that has nothing to do with pre-booking - my pool doesn't require you to book. If you arrive and there are 19 swimmers in, they will ask you to wait until someone gets out. (I've never had to wait, but I think it gets busier later in the day.)

Me too. Even better when people have booked and don't turn up, more space the better. Hate turning up somewhere and it's heaving.

Yeah ours is the same. There’s just two days a week which has a 9-10am slot which works well, the only other times the learner pool is open (in term time) is 12-1:30 which is right over my DS’s (and probably the majority of toddlers) nap time.

I understand it’s not financially viable for them to have the learner pool open all the time due to lifeguards etc, but just unfortunately the timings don’t work out well on their regular session.

@fieldsofbutterflies because things have moved on since you were a child??
Areas have become more populated, more rules and security measures in place (the better). Not sure what decades ago have to do with today.

@fieldsofbutterflies also many parents used to just dump and run when you were a child. So now there's parents too in the pool (better) so even more at capacity.

Our local one cannot be booked in person, it has to be online and using a card as they are cash free! Teenagers cannot just rock up and swim, older people Who can’t use tech are excluded and people who don’t have access to bank cards are excluded!

Public swimming should be inclusive to all!

I don’t actually mind pre booking but I do begrudge paying £35 for not even an hours swim for a family of 4.
Pre Covid you could book or just turn up and sometimes you did get turned away. But you could stay as long as you liked. Now you’re chucked out after 45 minutes and it’s more expensive!

Ive got myself a gym membership and pay for the kids to go they are £8 each and we can stay all day if we want to

I think they give a time don't they - eg if you want the medium lane you have to be able to swim a length in x seconds.

But I agree if you are there, it's all relative and if you've got the stereotypical women of a certain age swimming breast-stroke in the slow lane, you might want to go to the middle lane even though you're not that fast yourself.

I agree it's all a bit restrictive now. Not just booking but pool use.

Back in the day you'd have three pools, one for general use, one for teaching, one warm shallow pool for small children and toddlers. You'd have space to swim.

Now it's one big pool, chopped into half. One half seems to be permanently for teaching, mainly groups of adults. The other half is split into narrow "lanes" of three different speeds, fast, medium.and slow. You have to book each one separately amd sometimes thete are no slow slots but 7 fast ones. Etc.

It just seems so unnecessarily bureaucratic and rules oriented. It's stressful before you've even put a toe in the water. Don't get me started on the awkward etiquette if those narrow lanes. 🙄

There are always lessons learned and changes implemented - we hope - when children or others drown in UK public swimming pools.

It's a lot safer to stream swimmers into ages and sizes and abilities and activities.

And what lifeguards, of what experience are watching out - in particular - for what dangers/ hazaards.

Elderly people swimming laps - Is a change in co-ordination a sign of a stroke?

Lots of small toddlers - Are their parents paying attention or gossiping? Are the toddlers coping well in water or want to run dangerously on slippery surfaces?

Because 25 UK people (mostly children) drown in pools on package holidays in mainland Europe every single year.

My local pool does this, it’s ok, I book the slow lane for 6am every weekday morning, what pisses me off is 4 women who turn up most days, swim 1 length then sit in the water in the shallow end and chat for the entire session, it means other swimmers can’t do a full length and have to turn round at 3/4 mark!

Maybe if the tories hadn’t stolen all the money there would be enough to do things like build adequate facilities like pools so that people could go and exercise and take their children whenever they wanted…

Round here the kids swims start at 12, I have early risers and it's annoying!

Not sure if that's worse than mine,
but two women do keep swimming but very very slowly and next to each other, chatting the whole time!

Many places have just used booking systems used during Covid as an excuse to manage their workforce/ business costs better.
Many also just to increase shareholder profits, not about customer service at all !

For example our waste recycling centre requires online booking....Council owned site but outsourced....thus Contractor run.

Prior to Covid, you'd drop in anytime, never queueing, pull up, disgorge your recycling and waste into the relevant skips and pull off. Vehicle throughput was managed onsite, steady, busy, minimal delays.

Now have only online booking... the day you have a visit booked, it could be raining so you can't clear the garden as intended. Other people can't avail themselves of that prebooked visit and the throughput is less but the staff required are less.

Result = more dumping of stuff in lay-bys down our country lanes...
Awful to see but what can you do when the Council won't help people dispose of rubbish easily and responsibly.

With our time poor lives, when daily living becomes a problem and we're paying so much for it, the public become disheartened.