INFLATABLE SWIM SESSION

INFLATABLE SWIM SESSION - A SNAPSHOT #2
There are certain words, when placed in a sentence together that can send a certain chill down a parent’s spine. For example, ‘school play’ and ‘costume’ or ‘Easter egg competition ‘and ‘due in tomorrow’ . The latest example of this that I have experienced is ‘public swimming pool’ and ‘inflatable session’.

Yes, I rashly suggested the possibility of attending the inflatable session at the public swimming pool the next day without really thinking it through. The Child woke up the next morning and was so full of excitement about going along to this, there was no way I could backtrack.

I like swimming. I have spent quite a lot of time in Germany and in Germany, they do know how to do swimming pools. The pools are spacious, airy environments, often accompanied by wellness areas and steam rooms and the like. They are also very clean. They are very strict about shoe removal before entering any area which is near to the swimming pool and they have little pools you have to wade through before reaching the main pool to make sure your feet are clean. They also have nifty little foot spray things to spray your feet with on the way out to ensure you don’t get foot rot / verrucas. You tend to leave a swimming pool in Germany with a sense of well-being, fulfilment and general contentment. The last time I left a public swimming pool in the UK, I felt like I might have to go home and have a TCP bath.

So, it was, with some trepidation that I arrived at our local swimming pool for the ‘inflatable session’.  (This is an inflatable obstacle course which spans the length of the pool where they have to climb over and under without falling off and then go down a slide at the end...) To be fair, our local swimming baths were refurbished a few years ago and they are much better than they were (although there is still a distinct lack of shoe removal going on). Upon entering the pool area, I was quite impressed, it looked like the floor had been freshly mopped, and the showers and cubicles were all clean and tidy.  Good, this made me much happier. A quick change and then into the pool.

The Child had a lot of fun. You had to queue and then take your turn on the inflatable 2 x 2. There were 4 lifeguards in attendance so that was reassuring. The level of the pool had been dropped to 1.6m. (yes it is very swanky now with an adjustable floor) but this now meant that I couldn’t actually stand.  As I was there acting in a supervisory capacity I had to swim alongside and tread water for over an hour which was OK as you could obviously hold on to the side if you needed to, but after an hour, I certainly felt it in my stomach muscles. I don’t know how that recently fallen overboard cruise ship woman could tread water for 10 hours – I certainly couldn’t, I reckon I would manage two hours tops...

On leaving the pool, it was less satisfactory than upon entry. The person that had been in the cubicle before me had managed to leave some soggy tissues on the floor and crumbs which I managed to stand in so had to rewash my feet (first world problems I know, but still an irritant nevertheless...) and I had forgotten that since the refurb it was now a unisex changing room which meant I ambled out of my cubicle back to my locker in just my bra and pants to come face to face with a School Dad. Not what either he nor I was expecting. I know it is the same in principle as a bikini but that is why I choose to wear a swimming costume... big embarrassment from both - still, at least it wasn’t as bad as coming face to face with the gynaecologist who had dealt with me through childbirth in the school playground. I remember the horror of the ‘I recognise that face from somewhere’ thought, then the dawning realisation = shudder...

Anyway, once dressed and left, we felt like we had had Good Fun. I am sure that local swimming pools near you probably offer similar things so it is worth checking it out. It is certainly a good way to fill an hour or so...