Swimming is a great alternative exercise to running or cycling. One of the major benefits of swimming is that it is a great way to get a full-body workout without putting too much stress on your joints. If you wondering ‘where can I swim near me?’. In this guide, we’ve put together an overview of how to find your local pool and swimming facilities, and also how to find your local swimming club.
A minor drawback of swimming is that you have to plan your travel to local swimming facilities and work around their public lane swimming times. It can also be a less social form of exercise than running or cycling unless you join a local swimming club.
Poolfinder
Swim England has put together a comprehensive database of all swimming pools in the UK, in a service called Poolfinder.
One of the most impressive features of Poolfinder is the ability to filter your local search results by whether it has a 25m pool or 50m pool, whether it has on-site parking, and whether it has accessible changing facilities and pool hoists.
You’re also able to view the different types of swim sessions that each pool in your local town or city offers.
So give Poolfinder a try if you’re looking to find a swimming pool near you!.
Open Water Swimming
For those who love the feeling of swimming in natural environments, or need to swim outdoors as part of their training for a triathlon – Swim England also has you covered with a list of outdoor pools, lidos and open water swimming locations across the country.
You can find the full list of open water swimming venues at https://www.swimming.org/openwater/open-water-swimming-venues/
The Open Water section of the Swim England website also has loads of great information about getting started with open water swimming, and tips for those wanting to take the plunge into swimming outdoors.
Swimming Clubs
If you’re over the age of 18 and want to join a swimming club, you’ll need to join a masters swimming club.
Masters swimming clubs provide a supportive community for any swimmers that want to engage in casual lane swimming to help their fitness. It’s a great way to meet friends and add a bit of fun to your swimming workouts.
However, if you have a more competitive nature, joining a masters swimming club and becoming a member of Swim England permits you to enter races across the country.
If you’re interested in joining a masters swimming club, Swim England has a full directory of clubs across the country.
Swimming Lessons
If you’re not confident in the water, please take comfort in knowing that you’re not alone. It is estimated that 31% of the adult population in England would struggle to swim a full length of a 25 metre pool.
The Swim England Adult Swimming Framework has been set up to help adults get more confident in the water, so everyone can enjoy the fitness benefits of swimming.
Their searchable directory has a list of over 1000 facilities across the UK that offer adult swimming lessons, to help improve confidence in the water.
To see more blogs on fitness and exercise tips, head over to our main blog here.
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