BJSC’s swimming sessions will continue on Friday evenings, although London has moved into tier 2 of the Covid-19 restrictions. This change in status doess not have an effect on Tooting Leisure Centre’s ability to host our swimming sessions.

Tooting Leisure Centre has posted a video showing the process for accessing the pool. Although this is aimed at those taking swimming lessons, the process for getting to poolside is exactly the same for BJSC club members: wait at the “swimming lessons” sign, and we will collect you.

See the video here: https://en-gb.facebook.com/tootingleisurecentre/videos/264054317901748/

The club has published a number of documents related to resuming training sessions. Of utmost importance in these documents, for swimmers, are the ‘Health check protocol’, ‘Health screening survey’ and the ‘Return to swimming declaration’ – the latter two documents must be completed and brought with you to your first training session. If you do not bring these completed documents with you, you will not be allowed to swim.

To view the complete list of documents visit the Covid-19 documents and policies page.

As you may have heard, Battersea Jacs is returning to swimming soon. However, the pool time we have been offered is a reduction of approximately 70% on our previous sessions, and we will have no access to the teaching pool. Consequently we cannot return to the programme we had in place prior to March 2020. We are currently not able to run sessions in the Teaching Pool.

Unfortunately, this means that we are in the position whereby we have to ration the available pool time. This is both because the pool operator has reduced the number of swimmers we are allowed to have in the pool at any time, and because we want to make sure that it is
safe for our members to return to swimming.

In the first instance we will be inviting 18 members to join our initial session. Please don’t worry if you are not invited in the first batch, this does not mean that you will not receive an invitation in the future. We are trying to expand the sessions we have been offered, and, as we learn the new processes required under the current, restrictive regime, we will try to increase the number of swimmers we can accommodate in the sessions that we have.

The basis for our first selection is swimmers who can swim continuously for an hour, are regular attenders and have represented the club in galas, since this aligns with the requirements of the operator, the pool time we have been allocated and Swim England guidance on reducing risk. Although it may take a few months to work out, we are committed to providing pool time for all swimmers who can take part in sessions in the main pool at Tooting, but this may be for shorter sessions.

Please visit our web site, which has more information about our safety protocols and guidance for swimmers (www.bjsc.org.uk).

We will contact you in the next few weeks about resuming subscriptions.

We will notify you of any updates as soon as we are able. Thank you for your patience and support at this difficult time.

Kind regards.

BJSC Committee

While Tooting Leisure Centre will be re-opening from Wednesday (19 August), the pool will remain closed due to scheduled maintenance. However, Places Leisure has tentatively proposed that the pool will be available from the week commencing 7 September.

As soon as we are able to confirm dates, we will contact members to advise when sessions will be running. We expect to be running a reduced number of shorter sessions for the foreseeable future.

Tooting Bec Lido is to re-open from 12 August, for lane swimming only, and Wandsworth’s leisure centres are to open from 19 August.

While pools at Putney, Balham and Latchmere will also re-open for lane swimming from 19 August, the pool at Tooting Leisure Centre will remain closed for scheduled maintenance. There is no date currently available for Tooting’s pool to re-open.

Unfortunately that means that the club is still unable to set a schedule for swimming to recommence.

Places Leisure has announced that Tooting Bec Lido is unlikey to re-open before mid-August.

Specifically the announcement, in collaboration with Wandsworth Council, says that “the earliest possible opportunity for any re-opening would not be within the next four weeks”.

Places Leisure has made no announcements as to when its other facilities, including indoor pools and gyms, will re-open.

Quickly following on the heels of the government’s announcement that pools and gyms may re-open, Better Leisure has re-opened the open air Charlton Lido, close to Blackheath.

This will come as a surprise to many, who thought that it may take some weeks for pool operators to bring back their staff and recommission pools.

Charlton Lido is unusual in being open air, and heated. Better Leisure’s indoor pools are currently indicating that they will re-open 25 July 2020.

Places Leisure is yet to make any announcement as to when Tooting Bec Lido, or its indoor pools, will re-open.

The government has announced that pools and gyms are to be allowed to re-open from 25 July 2020, with outdoor pools allowed to re-open from 11 July 2020.

Read the government’s announcement.

While the government has made this announcement, it should be recognised that this is only an enabling regulation – it may take longer for pool operators to bring back their staff and make pools available to the public. Swim England envisages it taking two to three weeks for pool operators to recommission facilities.

The club currently has no information from Places Leisure or Wandsworth Council as to when Tooting Leisure Centre will re-open.

Swim England’s #OpenOurPools has had more than 50,000 signatures and has been handed-in to the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

As a result of this effort the government has announced that it will develop a timetable for the re-opening of pools.