My spot

He came along the line with a clipboard, checking each of our names off his list and checking that we’d read the website and come prepared.

“Do you have your swimsuit on under your clothes?”

It would have been a bit embarrassing if we’d not done that, for we were led in single file around to the pool and asked to leave our stuff on a marked spot whilst we were there. After five months, the leisure centre opened its pool for lane swimming again and I had booked a 7am slot on opening day. As I put my things down and took a quick snap for my journal with my phone, I noted the condition of that barrier and hoped that it wasn’t indicative of their Covid maintenance standards. It doesn’t look good does it?

Their management of the swimming session was faultless however and clearly a great deal of thought had gone into how government guidelines could be put in place whilst still accommodating all of our wishes. Three double width lanes - slow, medium and fast - each with ten swimmers, offered space and room for a little manoeuvre and it was fun to greet a few familiar faces from the pre-lockdown early morning bunch. We had fifty minutes to swim after which they would take ten minutes to clean all the surrounds and prepare for the next slot at 8am.

Not everyone stayed the full fifty minutes. Many left after half an hour and by the time I was ready to go, there were just two of us in the lane. My fellow swimmer thanked me for giving her an empty pool for the final five minutes as I went to find the answer to my last remaining query: was I really going to have to drip dry on the way home or could I get dressed?

Phew! There were four changing cubicles open for use.

My next slots are booked for Monday and Wednesday and from then the calendar opens a day at a time. I’ll have to remember to log in and snag a slot before it books up because I’m sure I’m not the only one to be glad to be back!