Beyond the Medals: Why Scotland Must Protect Its Pools

Beneath the excitement of a Summer of Sport in Scotland lies a pressing question: will our communities still have the swimming pools they need once the fanfare fades? Glasgow is gearing up to host a home Commonwealth Games across ten sports and multiple venues in July and August, with 33 swimmers representing Team Scotland, including household names like Duncan Scott OBE, Katie Shanahan and Faye Rogers. The event will inspire and unite the nation. But beyond the medals and cheers, we face a deeper challenge, ensuring that the grassroots infrastructure — like community swimming pools that make such achievements possible and keep the public safe year-round — is not left behind.

In the Scottish Parliament’s Summer of Sport debate on Tuesday 2 June, speakers highlighted successes at the community level. Government investment is supporting local sports events across Scotland and, crucially, delivering opportunities for free school swimming lessons for Primary 5 pupils. This will save and change lives. After all, we are an island nation with one of Europe’s longest coastlines and 39 people accidentally drowned last year alone. Ensuring that every child learns to swim is just common sense, isn’t it?

This push for universal water safety has been a long time coming. Until now, school swimming provision in Scotland has been patchy and inconsistent. That should change with the rollout of the new National Primary School Swimming Framework, which government funding will help implement to improve consistency and quality across the country. Yet having pools to learn in is a different matter entirely.

More than half of Scotland’s public swimming pools are nearing the end of their recommended 39-year lifespan. It’s a ticking time bomb; If not defused, more closures will follow. At least eight pools have closed in the past two years, and some local authorities, facing financial pressure, have already floated further closures in their budget consultations. If that doesn’t sound like a looming crisis, what does?

A solution is within reach. Scotland should convene a cross-party joint task force, including Scottish Swimming, local councils (COSLA) and sportscotland, to tackle this challenge before it becomes a crisis. Such a group could identify which pools are at risk, what investment is needed to sustain them, and how to achieve efficiencies (for example, through economies of scale on energy costs). It could chart plans for new or refurbished facilities and ensure future pools are sustainable and carbon-efficient. In short, we must get the right pools in the right places to ensure everyone can swim.

There is broad appetite for such action. In February, at a Scottish Swimming hustings, politicians from five parties signalled a willingness to collaborate on these solutions. For instance, five party manifestos highlight swimming as a key life skill with major health, safety and social benefits. Given that pools are widely seen as vital community assets, one immediate safeguard could be a rule that no pool closes without consultation with national sports bodies, ensuring alternative solutions are explored first.

As we revel in this Summer of Sport, now is the moment to turn good intentions into action. All parties should unite without delay to launch the joint task force and stop a problem from turning into a crisis. If they do, an exciting summer of sporting triumph can deliver a lasting legacy: a sustainable network of swimming pools that will serve current and future generations. By acting now, we ensure that when Scotland applauds its next generation of sporting heroes, we can also celebrate the thriving community pools that helped foster their success.

This article is sponsored by Scottish Swimming. 

www.scottishswimming.com