Photo Cred: tripadvisor.ca
Londoner’s can once again take a dip in the pool, as aquatic centers across the city reopen on Feb. 20. Many were excited by the announcement, maybe none more so than the parents desperately looking for a reason to get their children out of the house. Swimming is known to be an excellent exercise, and the reopening provides a physically active outlet for those looking for something to do.
Of course, London along with the rest of the world is still in the middle of a pandemic. This means London Aquatics will be forced to adhere to social distancing measures that will limit the number of swimmers allowed in various sections of the pool.
Joaquin Barrientos is a supervisor with London Aquatics, and explains a little more.
“So right now, it’s one person per lane in a 25 meter pool, or two people in a fifty meter pool, so that’s cut it down significantly. So same thing in terms of our in-pool capacity. Normally we can fit a few hundred in there, but right now we’re capping it off at 75 people per swim.
Pools being a part of the first rounds of reopening means swimming becomes one of the few activities people within the city can involve themselves in. Has this resulted in a high demand of Londoner’s looking to book classes or lane times? Barrientos discusses this in greater detail.
“Actually we have been having a fair amount of people calling and registering throughout the week. I think people are looking for something to do, so we’ve seen a fair bit of people registering for our drop in programs. The only people we have had to turn away realistically, is for our lane swim times, and that’s because our lane swims can only accommodate eight to sixteen people depending on the length, whether it’s a 25 meter swim or a 50 meter swim.”
While London pools can still accommodate a fair amount of swimmers, it would appear the smart move would to be to call ahead and book a time.
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