The waiting lists for swimming lessons in Hoogeveen are now running at two locations for swimming lessons that have recently closed. Last year the Hulsfhof swimming school in Echten stopped because it can no longer go to the swimming pool of Holiday Park Westerbergen and Physiotherapy De Leeuwerik closed the swimming pool because energy prices rose too high.
Nearly 200 children from swimming school De Leeuwerik are now being taught at the De Dolfijn swimming pool in Hoogeveen. Because the swimming pool de Leeuwerik of the physiotherapy practice of the same name closed last month.
“We’ve had our swimming pool since 2006. That was a very nice plus for our practice,” says Roeland Sloots of Physiotherapy de Leeuwerik. “Only we saw in recent years that the costs kept rising. When the energy bill also went twice to keep the bath at 32 degrees, we came to a point where we said in business that we should stop. Such choices are never the cutest.”
Swimming school De Leeuwerik will stop completely as of October 1, and until then 195 children can get their diploma at De Dolfijn in Hoogeveen. This is partly due to the fact that the Lark uses a different method. As a result, De Dolfijn had room for the extra swimming students. De Dolfijn itself uses a bath for starters where the children can touch the ground. “We use Easy Swim, which means that children can swim in water at a depth of 1.40 meters with a special life jacket,” says Sloots.
But that did not help the children on the waiting list. “There were 250 children on the waiting list. We do feel a responsibility for this, but we can’t do much more for them. They have to look for other swimming schools,” says Sloots.
Swimming pool De Dolfijn in Hoogeveen notices that there are more requests for swimming lessons: “We have 250 children on the waiting list. We had a one-year waiting list. We had reduced that to ten months, but then corona threw a spanner in the works. And now we see We are increasing the waiting lists again due to, among other things, the requests from swimming school De Leeuwerik,” says Gert van Eck, manager of swimming pool De Dolfijn.
De Dolfijn would prefer to maintain swimming safety in the region – in other words being able to move and recreate in bathing water without drowning – and is discussing this with the municipality. “We are, of course, a municipal swimming pool. So there are various proposals to attract extra staff. Only the outdoor season is now starting again, so it is a difficult time to attract extra swimming teachers,” says Van Eck.
So there will be no more waiting lists at De Doflijn next year? “Well, reducing the waiting lists to a normal level seems desirable to me, so less than a year. But it should all be doable,” concludes Van Eck.