Carla do you mind naming the gym address please? Essex should be find from me depending on what part of it (im in London) :)
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Carla do you mind naming the gym address please? Essex should be find from me depending on what part of it (im in London) :)
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Hiya I swim at Hutton more leisure center in Weston super mare, however I do now have to hire out a lane in advance but they are still very happy to see me there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gloomymort
Unfortuanatly my old tail broke but hopefully I will be making a new one as soon as I can afford
(which is very difficult with a horse lol) the two hobbies are both expensive.
i still go with my mono fin and they allow but if you would still like to go you would have to ring up the manager and speak to him so you could get all the details in full 'correct' details lol
Is there a pool in Hampshire that allows mermaid tails? :)
Any pool that allow it in London?
Claudia, that is what I want to figure out as well!
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Cool!!! Yea mermaids in London!
I've just ordered my first tail (yay!) and have been doing the rounds trying to find somewhere to swim. All the council run pools have said no but a lovely heated outdoor pool in Woburn has said yes! It's not very deep but is something at least :) It only opens in spring, summer and autumn so I'll be asking my local dive school if they can help during winter months :)
Hey, good to see some fellow mers near Bristol :)
Quick question for you guys if you don't mind - do you know about any good nearby spots for outdoor swimming? I heard there's a nice place near Bath for a swim in the river, for example. Any good experiences?
Gloomymort - in Henbury Leisure Centre they say they're 'fin friendly'. Haven't tried it out yet because I'm just practicing without a fin, but it might be worth checking out. Also, in one pool in Bristol there's regular freediving training going on so they might be o.k. with you there - I can check out for you what the pool's called if you want.
I've not looked into swimming in natural water yet :)
I have had a yes from another outdoor pool - with the limitation that it needs to not be too busy and I have a word with the lifeguard before I get in. They said though that if it's raining I would definitely be ok :) It's heated and I don't mind swimming in the rain so on to a winner!
My tail arrived yesterday (LOVE IT!) so I'm going to try out the monofin on Sunday at Woburn and see how I get on!
So I recently got a fully silicone tail and i contacted my local pool 'The Royal Commonwealth' to ask about using my tail in their facility. Six weeks. Six weeks of them ignoring me, not answering my requests for a risk assesment, not calling me back when they say they will. Finally got an answer today of a resounding 'No' based on the fact that the legs are bound together. I have tried looking for Rainas guide on fighting the tail ban but I cant find it. Im so pissed right now.
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Damn it, we need a UK mermaid revolution!
Uk mermaid protest against the tail bans
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hi i'm new to all this, i just got my mono fin and when i asked my local pool if i could use it they came out with similar responses, but they also threw in that they wouldn't let me use it as some had drowned whilst wearing one. i think this is bs has anyone heard of this?
I've never heard of anyone drowning whilst tailswimming.
I know, just making up nonsense. I've been lucky tho a friend works in hotel with a pool that I can use sometimes, he was so impressed when I let him try my mono fin he has ordered one too. He want to be a shark rather than a merman. So I'm still the only mer in devonsher.
Try private gym pools. My local council pool was terrible. I had different answers from different people and really rude staff but the gym are absolutely fine (if not pretty happy) about the fin as long as I'm sensible about taking up space during busy times and use the smaller fin if it is busier. However, it is a much smaller pool and it isn't very deep but I've been swimming in my local river all summer so I'm just glad to have somewhere warm that doesn't have a current. I think private gym pools can be much more accommodating if you are up for getting membership.
I am a member of David Lloyd gym and they are ok with me using my mahina merfin. When i first got my merfin i took it to my local council pool and got kicked out. I gave the manager a good moan so don't you worry. I am a confident swimmer and in a 50m pool i was hardly going to kill anybody. anyway, at the david lloyd gym, it being private and therefore more elite, fewer people, smaller pool and life guards with 2 brain cells, i can use my merfin. as long as the pool isn't stupidly busy and there aren't more than 2 in one lane. The life guard last time i was there was talking to me about it and said he'd never seen anything like it, i said its superb for working out with and he said we usually don't allow fins but it is down to our discretion and he could see that i am a confident swimmer and that i swim very close to the pool floor so i am away from passing swimmers. So in my experience and the above comments i can also agree that private gyms are the way forward
I have found a private pool near me that I can rent for an hour for £30 or I can book 10 1 hour sessions for £180. i have my first session booked for 28th Jan to try out my first silicone tail. In the summer I go to my local outdoor pool and they are really happy that I swim there. I am the Woburn mermaid :)
what pool is that? woburn is only an hour away from me - would be wonderful to swim together!Quote:
Originally Posted by Jade Forrest
I swim at Woburn Lido in the summer, the pool I've booked privately is in Abingdon near Oxford! Would be great to have other Mers to swim with :)
the lido is closest to me - let me know when youre going, would love to meet up!
It will open again in the spring I think so I will definitely let you know :)
I've recently been getting into mermaiding and before buying my first fabric tail, been trying to become a stronger swimmer - swimming at my local pool is fine but as others have been saying its tricky to get a solid reply on if I could wear a monofin or not. One guy said no, due to health and safety and 'being inable to get me out of the pool quickly in the event of a fire' (?) but another staff member said she loved the idea and would enquire. Needless to say, I've had no further replies to emails or calls.
It concerns me as I'd love to wear my tail more often, but I feel like I can't excuse buying one if I'm unable to use it often. Any further progress on this problem with you guys?
Hi,
I'm a UK mer based in the North of England (specifically, Leeds), but with strong affiliations with London. I don't yet have a tail but am swimming with a monofin for practice.
I am looking for other UK mers because I think I'm the only one in my area, and it's a really bad location in terms of swimming, pool access, etc. And far from a beach. I was wondering if there are any Northern mers with good ideas about where to go swimming, or if anyone wants to meet up?
I am currently on holiday in LA, California, where I have access to a really great pool and no one minds the monofin, but am sad to think that this is only temporary. I feel like California has so many more opportunities for mermaiding than the UK. If I could find somewhere that was half as good in England, I would be ecstatic.
I'm soooo glad to find this pod and thread! It's taken me about 3 months to find somewhere to swim, Mermaids of the UK your local council pool will only allow fins if you hire a lane! However where i live that seems to be impossible to do. All my local pools have turned me down. I've now gone to the local hotels with pools which also conveniently have gym memberships on offer, i suppose for travelling businessmen or something? Anyway. They're pretty reasonable and gets you full use of the pool. I have one hotel that's given me a solid yes, however there's one slightly closer to my flat who have asked me to come down with my fin so they can check it out and we'll go from there. I think what's more disheartening is there are 2 local mermaids i know of and when i asked them where they're able to swim i was given a big ole lecture about swimming in a tail and safety...
I'm glad I found this thread too. I live in Scotland and was worried that I'd encounter problems using the monofin and/tails as they are so strict here in public pools you can't wear goggles that cover your nose so I had a feeling they may have issues with something like a monofin. I have yet to buy and take mermaid gear to my local pool as I wanted to find out about this first and in the meantime have just been practicing without fins or tails. But knowing my local council I can see this becoming near impossible :( I would love to hear more stories on how people have gotten around it and or other locations to swim other than local pools. We are very low on public pools here.
Oh a fellow Scot mer! I'm in Glasgow if you need help finding a pool and want a swim buddy! The local hotels are your best bet or you can hire lanes at local council pools :)Quote:
Originally Posted by SingingSelkie
Quote:
Originally Posted by MerKatt
Yay, I've found another Scotmer!!! Or you found me rather! I'm in Perthshire and just starting out. I've loved mermaids all my life and only found out about becoming a real mermaid about a year or so ago as I didn't think it was a thing being the only one I knew who liked mermaids. Plus as you will know it's not a big thing in Scotland. I would love help in finding places to swim and possibly meet up for some in the future? X
If you find a place let me know! Perthshire isn't to far and I'll get the bus down. I've had no luck with any of my pools. They use to let me use my monofin and my fabric tail the once. but now I cant even use my monofin in the swim lane when it's quiet.Quote:
Originally Posted by SingingSelkie
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Im going to start doing some looking into pools and policy's etc. In the next few weeks. Will let you all know how I get on. I refuse to let this stop me! Council may hate me by the end of this but oh well. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by selkie13
Any pools in the midlands? (UK) I know Watermeadows hires out a lane to a small pod (i hope to join them very soon on a swim) and I live 5mins walk from my local pool. shall have to ask, if I can get info i shall update here. Any other mers in the derbyshire/nottinghamshire region?
So I contacted my local live active centre here in Scotland via email and they repliedQuote:
Originally Posted by SingingSelkie
So I was very excited about this. I have yet to find out how much it is to hire a lane but I'm glad there is somewhere so close to practice and possibly in the future use a mertail.Quote:
We wouldn't allow a monofin in a public session but as you have mentioned we would be able to hire a lane (or 2 depending on the size of the fin). We have had 'mermaids' in the pool before and have a risk assessment for those so I would imagine it would be similiar. You can call us for more details if you wish
That is brilliant! Hopefully it's not too much to hire out the lane. Let me know how it goes because I'd definitely be interested in coming down to use that pool. Which pool is it by the way?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by selkie13
I have a feeling the cost of hiring a lane will benefit more if there is more than one person sharing the lane at a time.
It's the Live Active Strathearn Campus. Not a very deep pool but good enough to practice.
I told my pool owner and the lifeguards that it was for swim training and is normally used by swimmers. It has to safety risk if used properly. And they allowed me to use it.Quote:
Originally Posted by SiaTheMermaid
Good luck! My pools rejected it entirely. :( I use a hotel swimming pool to swim in and they're suuuper kind and flexible.Quote:
Originally Posted by SingingSelkie
I think I should be able to come down so long as I'm not working and we can split the cost. Can also wait and see if anyone else will join us ^.^Quote:
Originally Posted by SingingSelkie
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Sounds like a brilliant idea xxQuote:
Originally Posted by selkie13
Update! So I just replied to a similar thread for this in general, but seeing as its the UK one here I'll pop it here too -
I have finally been able to find a pool that let me wear my mono fin. I emailed ahead of time but got no reply, so after much thought, I just went in with it. I didnt use the skin (its a finfun) but didn't hide the monofin from view, just didn't mention it. Said hi to the life guards, got in, did a couple of normal laps then put the fin on - no one said a word. Perfect!
I did swim in the adult-only evening portion of the pool times so perhaps that helps? I can see why they wouldn't want things like that when it's busy or around kids, in case it encourages them to bring in things that are similar which perhaps are not as safe. In any case, they really didn't seem to care. One of the ex-staff members I knew had told me he thought they'd say no but they had been known to allow scuba flippers, so perhaps that's part of it?
He said, weirdly, it's the bright colors on the tails that put them off. In that they see it as purely decorative, so a black monofin seems far more legit, and they can see your legs too.
I just got my first tail and monofin (mermaid kat, in green) any details on this pod that meets here? Im in Liverpool myself but that seems like the closest one so farQuote:
Originally Posted by Astridia
P.S. If there are any mers in or near Liverpool let me know! we could try together :P