I don't agree. I swim in the pool occasionally as I am lucky enough to have one close to my work but lane swimming is my main form of exercise. I can see the logic of Dan Hawtrey's point about increased congestion of swimmers and this is inevitable with a smaller pool. However, there is an important offset. When two swimmers are travelling at different speeds at some point one catches up with the other and overtaking is necessary. This can cause conflict with swimmers going in the opposite direction. Pool etiquette, which is observed in most pools I have swum in is, if another swimmer has nearly caught you up by the end of the lane, you give way and that clears potential traffic jams allowing faster swimmers to proceed. This happens more often in a 25metre pool as opposed to a 33 metre pool. There are other reasons why the shortening is a good idea. The main impetus behind it must be to cut energy costs because pools for lane swimming must be deeper. Combined with the extra length - the extra on the heating bill will be significant. This is money that could be used to maintain and improve the facility for everyone. There is also the point that 25metres is a standard size for pools now. My own swimming regime is based around this and it is a pain to have to adjust. Perhaps more importantly for that a standard size makes it possible for the Leisure Centre to host school competitions. As I say, I am a passionate lane swimmer and believe it is one of the best ways to stay healthy. However, those that exercise like this tend to be younger and relatively fit already. A more important role for a public pool is to enable children to learn to swim so this change seems to me as Places Leisure having its priorities right. Also the teaching area could probably also be repurposed for activities such as aqua aerobics for seniors.

Entire Thread

Topic	Date Posted	Posted By
PUTNEY POOL WILL SHRINK	02/06/26 17:32:00	Nina Sklar
Reply	02/06/26 18:01:00	Sue Hammond
Reply	02/06/26 18:26:00	Carl Broadley
Re:Reply	02/06/26 18:49:00	Philippa Bond
Re:Reply	02/06/26 19:07:00	Sue Hammond
Re:Reply	03/06/26 08:13:00	Nina Sklar
Re:Re:Reply	03/06/26 17:45:00	Philippa Bond
Re:Reply	15/06/26 13:15:00	David Beeney
Re:PUTNEY POOL WILL SHRINK	04/06/26 10:19:00	Gabrielle OMahony
Reply	04/06/26 11:47:00	Martine Guy
Reply	04/06/26 14:43:00	Martine Guy
Reply	04/06/26 17:09:00	Martine Guy
Reply	04/06/26 20:30:00	Martine Guy
Re:Reply	05/06/26 14:58:00	Philippa Bond
Re:Re:Reply	05/06/26 15:02:00	Philippa Bond
Re:PUTNEY POOL WILL SHRINK	05/06/26 15:19:00	Peter Higgins
Re:Re:PUTNEY POOL WILL SHRINK	05/06/26 16:39:00	Philippa Bond
Reply	05/06/26 18:33:00	Michael Ixer
Re:Reply	08/06/26 14:12:00	Philippa Bond
Re:Reply	08/06/26 14:13:00	Philippa Bond
Re:Re:Reply	11/06/26 17:47:00	Peter Higgins
Re:Re:Re:Reply	12/06/26 07:28:00	Philippa Bond
Re:Reply:  Primary School Swimming	13/06/26 23:45:00	Philippa Bond
Re:Re:Reply:  200+ pools closed since the pandemic	13/06/26 23:58:00	Philippa Bond
Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply	14/06/26 11:10:00	Ivonne Holliday
Reply	14/06/26 11:51:00	Sue Hammond
Re:Reply	15/06/26 07:03:00	Philippa Bond
Re:Re:Reply	15/06/26 07:50:00	Philippa Bond
Re:Re:Re:Reply	15/06/26 08:16:00	Barbara Stevens
Reply	15/06/26 08:50:00	Martine Guy
Re:PUTNEY POOL WILL SHRINK	15/06/26 13:23:00	David Beeney
Re:Re:PUTNEY POOL WILL SHRINK	16/06/26 12:41:00	Philippa Bond
Re:Re:Re:PUTNEY POOL WILL SHRINK	16/06/26 16:57:00	Philippa Bond
Re:Re:Re:Re:PUTNEY POOL WILL SHRINK : Here's something for swimmers	17/06/26 17:33:00	Philippa Bond
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:PUTNEY POOL WILL SHRINK :  Drowning Prevention Week	20/06/26 14:15:00	Philippa Bond
Re:Re:PUTNEY POOL WILL SHRINK	23/06/26 15:36:00	Peter Higgins
Re:Re:Re:PUTNEY POOL WILL SHRINK	06/07/26 15:17:00	David Beeney

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