AIBU swimming

I love swimming and I am a regular pool user. However, I have had to change pools recently. While attending with young grandchildren all under 5 years old, an unaccompanied young male twice lunged at one of my grandchildren. I complained in writing. Their answer - he was allowed to be in the water unaccompanied so as to give him independence. They admitted he was autistic with behavioural problems. They were sorry we did not enjoy our swim that day! Unbelievable!

If you can afford it, I'd try and join a health Club or hotel with a pool. I think I pay about £60 a month, off peak - weekdays between 6am and 4pm. It suits me perfectly. This includes use of a 20m pool, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi. Plus there is a studio which houses lots of different classes and two different gyms. I basically only go to swim and often give it a miss in the school holidays as it can get busy with little ones and they don't swim in straight lines!! But the rest of the facilities are available. A friend was a bit sniffy about the expense but it's so worth it to me. Not just for the exercise but it makes me get out and chatting to others and I always come home feeling so much better. Trying to get DH to join the gym for the Winter months when he can't go bowling.

Ziggy 62, You poor love yes definitely report it to the leisure centre. Some of these swimmers think they own the pool! A case of look at me don't swim just look aren't a I wonderful is their idea. The only times you should be careful is if you have a blind swimmer in the pool. I use to go regularly many years ago and this marvellous chap used to bomb down the first lane of the pool. Think he must have counted the length in strokes but by the looks of him got it wrong sometimes. Any 'newby was alerted to the fact you just didn't swim in that lane until he'd got out for safety sake, yours':-)

As the others have said - you have classic concussion symptoms. Go somewhere to have that on record. Then email the pool - copy to your local councillor (and yourself). If lane discipline is a problem more than VERY occasionally, they need to open more lanes or times for swimmers. Explain that you need to swim for wellbeing and exercise and just faffing about in the water will not get the job done!

Sounds like the pool should definitely open more lanes for the public, especially at weekends.

Definitely report it. May prevent a repetition
Make sure you get medical attention too

Hope you recover soon, Ziggy.👍 I used to swim at a local hotel spa, which was lovely and quiet with no time restrictions, but it’s too expensive now. It doesn’t allow pay as you go, or a swim only membership.☹️
I’ve found a senior swimmers’ session at a council pool at 3pm which isn’t too busy, but I have to retreat at 4pm when all the children arrive for the family swim session! 🙄

Thank you for all your replies.
As mentioned yesterday, I filled in an online complaints from yesterday before I headed to A&E.
Heard nothing, just an automated email to say form had been received.
Sent another email about 30 minutes ago, saying I'd attended A&E, been diagnosed with concussion and given medication. Received a reply, quite quickly saying my complaint has been sent on to complaints manager.
So hopefully it will be looked into.
There is another public swimming session each day between 12.30 and 1.30, (whole pool available)due to work I'm not free at that time every week day but might pop along on from just to take a look at how many are using pool and might go at this time in future instead of Sunday mornings

Definitely contact leisure cerntre advising them of incident. If the system can cause such incidents then the Centre should address this probably prohibiting certain styles at certain times. The pool has to be safe for everyone.

The pool is run by the council, so I've addressed my complaints to the head of the council who deals with leisure facilities

An incident like this will also be required to be entered on the Leisure Centre's accident log.

I have had a number of emails this evening regarding my complaint plus the manager has been trying to call me . Seems they are now taking my complaint seriously

That is good to hear. I hope you’re feeling better and can look forward to your regular swimming very soon.

As a regular swimmer in a council pool, I wanted to add my tuppence worth. This guy who bumped into you sounds bloody dangerous. I have only been hit like this swimming in a mass start in a triathlon, never in a pool environment. Very painful, somehow injuries in water are, i often got my hand bumped by a swimmer in the next lane who has a wide stroke. Ouch! This guy must have given you a real whack and the centre need to be on the lookout for him. I agree, one lane sounds ridiculously limiting for space. It is so difficult to find a time when it's good to go to local pools. I'm lucky with the one I use, but it's only available during the day, which means going early or mid day during work. I think the hotel pool idea sounds better if your local place don't get their act together. This guy seriously injured you! Take care, glad you feel a bit better.

I have experienced being bumped, kicked , pushed out of lane by other swimmers...though I have not had any nasty bangs on the head like OP. ( I do hope you are ok )
I don't want to be accused of being sexist or judgemental but it seems to me the perpetrators are always male.
I'm 68 , can only swim breaststroke but at a reasonable pace.
I find the worst offenders are bald , overweight chaps who seem to think they're Adonis and own the pool .
It does make me cross , I am afraid.

NotSpaghetti

Mine is a Hilton hotel pool part of "Livingwell"

www.livingwell.com/

My membership includes use of other hilton tools, gyms and some classes.
I like that they provide towels too! This is a real boon in the winter!

Might be worth looking.

Mine is a Hilton hotel pool too. They have stopped supplying towels, except to those staying in the pool. It was a great boon though, before it stopped.

Manager of leisure centre called my husband's phone late last night but we missed the call. He rang again today, apparently they have poolside cameras, so I told him what time I was in pool so they will be able to see exactly what happened. I'm still in a lot of pain and pain relief drugs making me very sleepy.

I hope your pain eases soon Ziggy. It's good news that they will be able to see what happened to you in the pool and sort out a better and safer method.

I recently started regular swimming at my local David Lloyd. I haven’t encountered any collisions yet - I go at relatively quiet times - but one thing I’ve noticed - whenever there’s any really noisy splashing, it’s always a bloke!

There was one such today, making a hell of a seriously splashy racket with what looked like a competent enough front crawl - but in the next lane was a woman doing an expert front crawl, with barely a splash at all!

Lol. I haven't been back swimming or to the gym yet. Neck feeling a bit better, not taking as many painkillers.
Looking forward to getting back in the pool

Hopefully they'll be able to identify the man concerned and have firm words with him. The lifeguard should also be intervening when someone is swimming in a way that is dangerous or inconsiderate of others.

I'd like to offer sympathy to the OP and agree with most others about the difficulty of finding a local swimming pool with adequate times and space for different kinds of swimmer.

I think the problem is worse in the south and south west where the population has been shooting up. Before the pandemic and lockdown, you could always book at our local pool and it wasn't overcrowded.

In the last few months, I've just given up. Even in 50+ sessions, three lanes isn't enough. The slow pool is full of very, very slow people, I actually couldn't swim that slowly, plus that lane always has a group of women who stand and chat in the shallow end.
The fast lane is where any men go, regardless of how fast they can actually swim and the middle lane is then a hotch potch of swimmers doing various strokes, often at different speeds. I have a dodgy knee from a knee injury so I don't dare swim breast stroke but I can do a reasonable crawl stroke but mixing breast stroke swimmers with crawl swimmers doesn't often work.
Instead of a swim being relaxing and enjoyable, it has become a frustrating, irritating outing. Swimming can be so wonderful, I'm sad at how pointless it seems now.

Even most gyms now limit members use during afternoons. Either you can't use the pool at all or you all have to crowd into one lane while swimming classes go on in the other lanes. Mornings are often taken up with aqua fit classes and free swimming is only available early in the morning. It's a shame.

Apart from a couple of Aquafit/Aquazumba classes at my local David Lloyd (both full!) there aren’t any weekday restrictions at my local DL, except that 4-7 pm is ‘family swim’ time, so best avoided if you would rather not share the pool with children. Other weekday times are adults only.

YANBU