Dear fellow swimmers
Lidos and personal lifesaving memories
Lidos have long been a big part of my swimming life. I grew up in Cheltenham and spent countless hours at the beautiful Sandford Parks Pool.
It’s where I did my personal lifesaving awards – making a float out of my trousers, swimming through hoops, and retrieving rubber bricks from the bottom.
This was the 1980s, and every summer felt like it might be the last. The pool was under constant threat of closure. Thankfully, it survived those uncertain times.
Today, I swim regularly at Hampton Pool, another amazing facility, heated to around 27°C year-round. It was closed in 1980 but rescued from demolition by a community campaign and reopened in 1985.
Another gem is Guildford Lido. It’s a bit far for my regular swims, but I visit occasionally and I
have fond memories of doing a couple of 24-hour swimming events there. Excitingly, Guildford Lido recently announced it will stay open through winter, which is fantastic news for local swimmers.
And I’ll be there again today. Guildford Lido is hosting a Free Open Day from 11am to 4pm, with activities including first aid training, swim technique video analysis, and an
introduction to open water swimming, which is the bit I’m involved in.
Zoggs, the brand retail partner for Freedom Leisure (Guildford Lido’s operator), will also be there offering advice on outdoor and cold water swimming gear, including their bestselling thermal silver-lined swimwear and newly launched neoprene gloves and socks.
If you’re nearby and fancy joining, you can register on the Guildford Lido website.
Also in The Dip this week...
As it's Menopause Awareness Day today – and indeed Menopause Awareness Month all October – we asked swimmer and holistic practitioner Louise Pitman to tell us why this isn’t just a topic for women and how swimming can help. It's also a good time to reshare our virtual event with journalist Lorraine Candy where the journalist and author tells us how swimming helped her cope with the challenges of mid-life and menopause.
