onionbagblog

Something slightly different for my daily swim on Saturday morning. With fifteen summers of love for all things @BrockwellLido washed away in a single season through corporate incompetence from Fusion, I kept on cycling through Brixton, up towards Streatham and then a swing to the right for Tooting Bec Lido

Blimey.

I use to be a late season regular at Tooting back in the day. Once @BrockwellLido had pulled the shutters down after the August Bank Holiday, Tooting was my outdoor pool of choice through until the early autumn.

But with the bonkers 10am weekend opening time @BrockwellLido, I was buggered if I was to waste away half of my Saturday morning waiting for more misery from Fusion and it’s corporate incompetence.

Tooting was open for business at 6am. Brilliant. The obvious knock on effect of this is that the hour-long queues experienced back at Brockwell are banished from SW16.

The backlog of hot and bothered swimmers snaking all the way round to @thelidocafe is never really cleared throughout the day at Brockwell. Tooting however doesn’t allow for a queue to even start forming, with an early start to encourage a smooth flow of swimmers.

This ease of access was also carried over to the glorious 90-yard pool. The 10am dip at Brockwell is manic, as the not-so-early birds are all competing for space at the same time. Not so at Tooting, with a staggered approach to swimming.

The sensible £5 entry price at Tooting helps as well. The reception staff at Brockwell can’t seem to deal with the handing over of change, with the rather awkward £5.20 admission price. A chap at Tooting simply had a pile of grubby fivers on hand for anyone with a ten pound note.

I changed in one of the iconic Tooting multi-coloured themed cubicles. As well as adding to the historic atmosphere of the pool, this extra provision also eases the changing room provision that the shoebox changing rooms at Brockwell simply can’t cope with during peak times.

My swim itself was spectacular. I was able to see clearly underwater down a half stretch of the glorious 90-yard pool. Back at Brockwell and a metre visibility has been the best of late.

The base of the Tooting pool was incredibly clean. None of the plasters, crisp packets or unidentifiable floating objects that we have come to expect at Brockwell this season.

I had forgotten how the pool lining at Tooting has a rubber like mat quality. This felt far safer than the grazed and rather dilapidated pool floor at Brockwell, which has had one too many mid-winter breaks without any treatment.

My only criticism of the Tooting swim is the lack of swimming lanes. Much resistance was put up at first amongst the @BrockwellLido community. The lanes do offer guidance however, and provide a system that gives some direction once the pool becomes overcrowded.

I finished my swim, towelled off and then strolled straight inside the Tooting Lido Cafe. Sadly this is something that is not now possible back at Brockwell.

The Lido Restaurant Cafe is out of bounds from the poolside during busy days. You have to physically leave the pool, and then join the non-swimmers from the separate restaurant cafe entrance, all fully clothed and enjoying their private view of the swimmers and sunbathers.

I enjoyed my Tooting swim so much, that I stayed for the next four hours. Back at Brockwell and I usually head straight back to base after my swim. I’ve no reason to stick around - all sense of the lido community has long since been strangled out by the corporate mismanagement by Fusion.

Having paid up front for the season with my Brockwell membership, sadly I can’t justify a Tooting swim every morning as well. I’m already being fleeced twice by @lambeth_council, as a consequence of pimping out pools in the Rotten Borough to two preferred leisure partners.

I hope it is not too late for Fusion to return @BrockwellLido to the lido loving community that still holds a great deal of love for the building, the atmosphere and more importantly, the people.

To achieve this then Fusion has to recognise where the mistakes have been made, and take away the corporate identity and strong arm management that has turned @BrockwellLido into just another outdoor pool.

A trip to Tooting by Fusion staff would help. Here we have a local authority, running and managing a local authority own facility.

Now there’s a co-operative ideal for you.