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reflections

re-entry

25/6/2020

4 Comments

 
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It's been almost a year since I last posted here. Last summer was a delicious flurry of lido road-trips introducing The Lido Guide to swimmers while topping up my own chlorine and sunshine levels. I took the winter off, a sort of hibernation. 

I reduced my social media usage drastically, took time to be more present in real life and to swim for the pleasure and the pain of it. Fellow cold-water lovers will understand what I mean by the pleasure and the pain of it.

Following a trip to Orkney in February, where storms so severe that even the locals didn't swim put paid to my desire to immerse myself every day, I was ready to take up the reins, to re-immerse myself in all things lido.

But the world changed. Amidst the devastating losses of the pandemic swimming and lidos felt inconsequential to me. Trivial, even. I'm still feeling wary with swimming, careful not to do anything that might lead to any kind of emergency call-out; whether through need or well-meaning but uninformed onlookers being worried about what they see. We are nowhere near out of the woods yet, and I'm determined to keep doing all I can to minimise the spread of the virus and leave our emergency services best placed to respond to those in genuine need.

Lidos, to me, feel as though they could be part of the solution not part of the problem. Commercial open water swimming venues, such as those sited in lakes, reservoirs and disused docks were authorised to open weeks ago provided they had appropriate safety measures in place. Lidos, despite the obvious parallels, were not. The sector took that apparent contradiction with good grace, although it has led to a number of them deciding not to reopen at all in 2020 because what remained of the season would not have been cost-effective for them with reduced footfall due to social distancing measures.

There were high hopes that lidos would be given the go-ahead to reopen on 4th July, and some started making preparations such as cleaning the pool and training lifeguards - the lead time for opening a seasonal pool is in the order of weeks, not days. The decision of the government not to allow swimming pools to open has come as a crushing blow to the lido sector. 

The government appears not to recognise the difference between indoor pools and outdoor pools. The risk profile of an outdoor swimming facility is arguably very much lower than that of an indoor facility. Perversely, in having allowed other open water venues to open the government seems to accept that. Yet the almost 130 publicly accessible lidos remain closed.

This demonstrates that the government does not understand the lido sector, or the significant contributions these pools make to their local communities. The majority are volunteer-run, and operate on a financial knife edge. Losing an entire season, particularly a season blessed with such spectacular weather as this one has been to date, could result in some being lost to us forever. 

If the entire economy remained in lockdown, and if other similar businesses had not been allowed to open, lido operators and lido enthusiasts would undoubtedly take this on the chin. We understand that the pandemic is bigger than all of us, that Covid-19 is an awful illness that can all too readily take lives and that we must do all we can to protect those most vulnerable to it. But the hospitality sector, and many other outdoor leisure and recreation facilities have been given the green-light. We feel overlooked, undervalued and misunderstood. 

Following the government announcements regarding July 4th Swim England are now lobbying hard for pools to be allowed to re-open. They, also, do not appear to recognise the fundamental difference between indoor and outdoor pools. That is a great disappointment. Nevertheless, we need to get behind their campaign. You can find full details here. 

The lack of recognition, within the political world, of the unique and important outdoor assets that lidos undoubtedly are persuades me that it is time for my re-entry into the lido world. It is vital that these safe, welcoming swimming spaces are given the opportunity they need to survive alongside the other businesses for whom lockdown restrictions have been eased.

I hope that sooner rather than later we will all be diving in, literally, and that we can protect these vulnerable pools through being allowed to use them.  
4 Comments
Emma Dodd link
26/6/2020 04:37:10

Very eloquently put. As a shielder, I will not be able to take advantage of lidos reopening this year, but hope for all my fellow swimmers and lido lovers that the government will see sense soon. Swimming is a form of recreation, exercise and release for so many and the community has been so patient throughout these dry months. It's time to allow us back in the water.

Reply
Emma Pusill (Lido Guide) link
29/6/2020 06:07:19

Thanks Emma - I hope you see some reprieve from shielding soon and can get out and about a bit, and maybe even that you can fit in that swim at some point while the weather and water are still warm.

Reply
Debbie Kaye
28/6/2020 05:25:24

The failure by both government and national organisations to understand and effectively make the case for outdoor swimming pools is a significant reason why the closure has been prolonged. For many pools, a decision in the next few days or weeks will now be too late for this season and for some perhaps, their survival.

As we may be in this situation or similar in the future, I suggest the operator community needs to take action fix the problem of lack of voice. Is there a national organisation outdoor pools could feasibly align to, or do they need to create their own? Perhaps both.

I am a local government officer and also a vice chair of CLOA, the chief cultural and leisure officer association, representing and supporting local authorities . I would be willing to discuss with lido guide & others how pools of all backgrounds might best organise to support and promote their collective aims.

Reply
Emma Pusill (Lido Guide) link
29/6/2020 06:12:37

Hi Debbie,

thanks for that. Several years ago Janet and I discussed forming a Lido Operators Guild (working title!).

We didn't progress with it for a variety of reasons - chief amongst which is that running that kind of organisation takes a lot of time and we both do this work as a 'hobby' around our day jobs and families so we didn't feel we could give it the time it required as well as getting the book published.

We should be able to rely on Swim England to be our voice, but this pandemic has made me realise that Swim England also does not appear to understand the differences between indoor and outdoor pools. That realisation has led a few of us to be having conversations about the best way to increase our profile and representation. I have written to the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Committee on swimming too.

If you'd be kind enough to email me your contact details I will certainly keep your kind offer of help in mind and may well reach out when we are in a position to mobilise in a more meaningful way.

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