There is a bit of a swimming crisis in South London. Unfortunately, the epicentre is pretty close to me.
So, let us take stock.
- Streatham Pool: closed, for Health and Safety, should have been completely rebuilt years ago, but the finance was via a deal with Tesco, who have been dilatory and recalcitrant;
- Clapham Pool: closed in order to be knocked down and rebuilt;
- Brockwell Lido and Tooting Bec Lido, both outdoors and unheated, and open only to members in the winter;
- Brixton Recreation Centre: currently having the Wetside changing rooms refurbished, meaning that swimmers have to change in the cramped conditions on the 6th floor and descend by stairs to the Pool on the 4th floor, also leading to limited opening hours - although not as limited as the propagandist agitators would have you believe*
Knowing that Brixton is a bit crowded, and not especially wanting to parade around in public half-naked**, I thought I would try:
- Queen Mother Sports Centre which is near work, but closes at 7.30pm, no good for me if I finish at 6.30
- Balham, which is a little bit out of my way: closes at 6.30 pm
I thought to myself it's always better to go to an open pool than one that is closed, for whatever reason. So I went to Brixton. And it was okay. For the first two lengths. Then the disco music started, loud, so loud that people started shouting to each other. The Aquarobics arrived and took over the entire 'recreation' lane, 40% of the pool for 10% of the users. Stupid bloody activity anyway, Aquarobics. Learn to swim, not ponce around!
And the 'music' has a beat. I don't know about you, but whenever I hear a persistent dominant beat, I have to move in time to it. It's a fairly well observed phenomenon of crowds walking/marching etc. Trouble was, it was a bit too fast for my comfort, so there I was swimming faster and faster.
And just for good measure there was a man. It wasn't really his fault; by rights he should have been in the recreational swimming area, but he was slow. But I kept getting stuck behind him. Overtaking shouldn't have been a problem, because he was that slow. But he was so splashy, and then there was such a wake from the Aquarobics class that I felt like a little boat being buffetted on the sea, conscious that if I didn't get a move on, faster than the beat of the music that was too fast for me, anyway, there'd be someone coming up behind wanting to overtake me overtaking him.
Still, I got my arse into gear, refused to believe the lies of those with an agenda, and it's so easy once you get back into the habit! And I feel good.
* someone is Twittering as 'Brixton Recreation Centre' and claiming it's only open for one hour in the morning; that isn't true. What is true is that it is limited to schools and other lesons during the rest of the day, but re-opens for general admission at 6.30, and closes, I think at 10.00 pm (but why let facts spoil a good story!)
** it's not actually a problem, it's down the back stairs, not the main ones, and you only encounter other people parading half-naked
