Concern that new Olympia Swimming Pool is Operating More Like a Private Sports Club

I have received a complaint from a constituent about the new admissions policy at the Olympia which I understand came into effect on 1st November 2013. 

With regard to access to swimming in the 50 metre pool between 6 - 8 am (the only time the 50m set up is in place) and 8 - 9.30 pm it is apparently necessary to both:

• a Leisure Active member, incurring a minimum charge of £19 per month paid from a bank account and
• apply to Dundee City Council for a National Entitlement Card to use as a swipe card to gain access to Olympia. 

For those that want to swim at these times and in particular swim in Dundee's only 50 metre pool, there is apparently no casual turn up and pay access to Olympia. During these times the Olympia seems to be operating more like a private health club and not like a publicly provided swimming pool.

If my constituent was right, this policy seems discriminatory because many folk in our city could not afford the monthly cost of a Leisure Active membership. It also seems to exclude folk who want to swim lengths and are not members of Swimming Clubs. While access to Olympia is more flexible later in the morning and afternoon, the fifty metre layout is not available during those times.

This seems to be contrary to the public service obligation which follows the Council's investment of £31,5 million in this new facility. As an elected member of the Council that supported the replacement of the Olympia, I didn't think this was what the Council was investing in.

I wrote to Stewart Murdoch in his twin capacities as Managing Director of Leisure and Culture Dundee and Director of Leisure and Communities with the City Council. I asked that, if  indeed this is the new policy at Olympia, he and the board of Dundee Leisure and Culture reconsider this.

In his reply Stewart Murdoch confirmed that Olympia had indeed discontinued the use of paper tickets for early morning swimming for non members although it was exploring the feasibility of a 'swim only' membership. This however doesn't address the issue I have raised. I have asked for a more comprehensive review into access arrangements at Olympia.

Dundee City of Young and Confident Swimmers?

Grove Academy Swimming Pool

Let's get our children swimming!

With the new Olympia opening on Thursday, I think it's time to ask how we can exploit the outstanding quality and number of public and secondary school based swimming pools we have in Dundee and ensure that all our young people have an opportunity to learn to swim.

While we have some very active and successful swimming clubs and many indoor pools, I think more could be done in our Primary Schools to help make Dundee a City of young and confident swimmers.

According to The Royal Life Saving Society UK, more than 400 people drown in the UK each year, and thousands suffer near-drowning experiences. Shockingly drowning is the third highest cause of accidental death in children in the UK so this brings into sharp focus the importance of learning to swim.

In our primary and secondary schools, the Scottish Government have a target for two hours of quality physical education per week but surprisingly there is no specific target for learning to swim.  According to national swimming organisations, it takes at least 22 hours of sustained small group lessons to teach a child to swim. I understand that many of our children receive less time than that for swimming lessons during their Primary School years. 

In this National Drowning Prevention Week, I hope we can adopt our own target in Dundee and promote Dundee as a City of Young Swimmers. In this way we should not only ensure that we make good use of our swimming pools but more importantly provide access to well experienced swimming coaches and swimming lessons as part of the curriculum entitlement for all our primary school pupils.