USA TODAY International Edition

Pool- sharing apps give everyone a chance to swim

- Mela Seyoum

The summer heat might have you wondering what you can do to cool off and, for those without a pool, options are limited.

Such apps as Swimmy and Swimply can help by connecting people with pools who want to rent them out with swimmers in their area who are looking to use a pool for the day.

Swimmy was establishe­d in 2017 in Europe and this summer has expanded to states across the U. S. It has 130,000 users to date.

Asher Weinberger, co- founder and chief operating officer of Swimply, founded in 2018, said the company has pools in every state in the U. S. and about half a million users.

Some of the most popular states are Oregon, Illinois and New York, where there aren’t many pools but there are a lot of people who want to use one during the summer months, he said.

“Counterint­uitively, we’re growing fastest in the areas you might not think we would be, and that’s pretty cool and surprising to us,” Weinberger told USA TODAY.

How the apps work

On Swimply, if you would like to host, you can create a listing by sharing photos of your pool, adding a descriptio­n, price point and the number of guests you prefer. From there, you can accept reservatio­ns and payments.

After a reservatio­n, hosts and swimmers can review one another – informatio­n that future customers can use.

Swimply’s prices tend to be $ 30 to $ 45 an hour, with extra costs for a large number of guests.

The process is similar on Swimmy: You list photos, a descriptio­n, price point and number of guests.

Swimmy also offers a 50% discount for kids ages 3- 12. Some of the most common costs for a half- day session are $ 25 to $ 35 per person.

For both apps, location is also a big factor in price. Pools in states like California will usually be pricier than ones in Oregon.

Safety concerns

As with services such as Airbnb, hosts and guests might be concerned with how they can stay safe amid the coronaviru­s pandemic.

Weinberger said that throughout the pandemic, Swimply urged hosts to reduce the number of guests they accept at one time. He added that if a guest feels that a pool was insufficiently clean or had other problems, they can report that to Swimply. If need be, Swimply can ban a host.

Swimply asks that hosts follow COVID- 19 and other safety guidelines in their state. But Weinberger said the company hasn’t had many problems with safety or cleanlines­s in the past year.

Swimmy also requires pools to comply with safety standards for host’s state or locality. They also ask that guests are in good health and try their best to not take any risky actions like diving into the pool or running on slippery floors.

To help reassure hosts, Swimply recently establishe­d insurance that covers up to $ 1 million for general liability claims and $ 10,000 of property protection.

Swimmy’s insurance policy includes up to $ 1 million coverage for injuries and property damage.

In April, Wisconsin regulators said Swimply pools will be treated the same as public pools, which would require hosts to get a license before they list their pools.

Swimply’s representa­tives have threatened to sue.

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