The number of regular swimmers in the UK has been falling despite an increase in the number of available pools. This isn’t new information, but how long could this trend continue? Swimming is regarded as one of the most popular activities by the British public, but the stats don’t support that.
People want to be in the water, but they also want to do more than just swim lengths.
Swim England’s 2017 report Health and Wellbeing Benefits of Swimming highlighted that pools offer an environment with huge potential to support people with long-term health conditions; from cancer to heart disease and musculoskeletal pains.
Creating a pool offering for individuals living with these kinds of conditions is an opportune way to increase pool use while also providing a beneficial wellbeing service to members.
The offer needs to be more than swimming; it needs to be adaptable to individual abilities, be suitable for non-swimmers and be social.
At GoodBoost, we give each participant in our classes a waterproof Android tablet, and these assist a qualified swim teaching practitioner in delivering individually tailored and progressive aquatic exercise sessions for people living with a range of different health conditions.
Initiatives that utilise the therapeutic properties of water, while making the offering available to the non-traditional swimming population, have the greatest likelihood of increasing pool numbers. This is one of the best chances the industry has to splash the cash back on to the balance sheet.