Swimming safety steps will solve ‘lane rage’ at a stroke

Early-morning swimmers in crowded pools will be familiar with the problem of “lane rage”, where slower swimmers hog the fast lanes and block others from getting past.

But thanks to new coronavirus regulations, swimmers could now be in for a more harmonious morning workout than ever before, the CEO of a major leisure group has said.

Indoor pools must now book visitors into designated time slots, widen lanes and limit the number of people in the pool at any one time, under government guidance that will allow indoor pools to open on July 25.

Mark Sesnan, CEO of GLL, a leisure group that operates pools including the London Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park, said it would stop conflict between slow swimmers who hog the fast lanes.

“We’re hoping this is the end of lane rage,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“Because now there will only be a certain number of people in the pool and people will be graded by their ability in much wider lanes with fewer people in them.

“So be patient with us, because it will be slightly harder to get your booking, but once you’ve got it, you’ve got much more space and time to yourself, and we think it will be a much better experience.”

Swimmers visiting pools when they reopen later this month must wear their bathing suits under their clothes to reduce time in the building before they get into the pool.

The industry trade body, UK Active, has proposed that each swimmer has

‘There will only be a certain number of people in the pool and they will be graded by their ability in wider lanes’

three metres of clear water around them, to stop the spread of infection in the pool.

But Mr Sesnan said swimming pools are safe environments because of the water treatment process in indoor pools.

“Chlorine kills the virus,” he said. “But obviously we’ve got to make sure people are safe outside the water, and to cut the interaction between people. So the systems that we are operating are going to make swimming even better than it has been before.”