Chilly St Albans swimming pool still causing problems
WATER babies are still getting goosebumps from a cold St Albans swimming pool.
Following last week’s Herts Advertiser story about Elizabeth Franklin and her vow never to take daughter Rebecca back to an apparently freezing-cold Westminster Lodge learner pool, yet more unhappy local swimmers have come forward to complain about the pool’s temperature.
Ruth Cassidy, of Linden Crescent, who takes her 19-month-old son Joshua to swimming lessons every Monday at midday, said that she first noticed the problem three weeks ago.
She explained: “There has been a very obvious dip in temperature and when Joshua went swimming on Monday, June 21, he actually climbed out of the pool himself because it was so cold.
“He usually hates the warm showers but I couldn’t get him out them that day.”
She added: “Even the teaching staff – let alone parents and children – find the temperature unacceptable, and our instructor urged us all to complain to reception.
“It is a teaching pool and therefore the temperature should be right for a comfortable learning environment.”
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Marian Cox, who belongs to The Salmon Club for disabled swimmers, said that it is not just a problem for children.
He revealed: “The water is freezing and causes a problem especially for those with MS, who cannot move around a lot. The club is losing members as a result of the temperature and we all find it unacceptable.”
A spokesperson for the district council, which owns Westminster Lodge, maintained that the operating temperature of Westminster Lodge’s learner swimming pool was set according to national guidelines – more specifically, between 29 and 31 degrees.
According to those rules, it is acceptable to drop the temperature by a degree or two without notifying swimming pool users.
Although the spokesperson could not confirm whether that was the case or not, she said: “The operating temperatures of our swimming pools are monitored every two hours and adjustments are made to ensure they continue to operate within the correct range.”
