Next month I'm taking on a new long
distance swim challenge – swimming a full running marathon distance of 42.2km
in my local Lido. That’s 26.1miles or
844 laps of the 50m swimming pool! The aim is to raise awareness and funds for
the historic Sandford Parks Lido that provides the residents of Cheltenham with
a historic and truly wonderful swimming facility.
The Sandford Lido was opened in 1935 and
like many traditional Lidos it hasn’t always enjoyed the popularity or
patronage it deserves. By the 1990s it was losing money and the local Borough
Council who ran the pool considered shutting it down due to high maintenance
costs and the refurbishment work that needed to be done. In 1996 a charitable
trust was set up to manage the Lido and not only did it survive but over
£370,000 was raised along with government grants to refurbish the pool and fix
many of the longstanding problems. It continues to provide an unrivaled swimming
experience to the local community and is not only a mecca of activity on the
occasional hot sunny summer’s day but is popular with local triathlon, swimming
and water polo clubs.
Like all outdoor pools in this country the
fickle English weather has a significant say in how successful the season will
be. This year the first 4 weeks the Lido was open saw a £4000 blow out of the
heating budget due to unseasonably cold weather. In the past the council used
to keep the Lido only minimally heated to save costs but this would result in
an understandable down turn in popularity and a cycle of poor patronage and
income would result. The Charitable trust that now oversee the running of the
Lido are made up of volunteers passionate about maintaining and preserving the
historical Lido for the local community. They have eschewed the narrow-minded
approach that drove people away and keep the Lido well heated and well managed for
the community.
Unfortunately there is still a perception that
the Lido is cold and uninviting, only for cooling off on a scorching hot
summer’s day, I’m hoping
to raise people’s awareness about how lucky they are to have a pool like the
Sandford Parks Lido on their doorstep, if it isn’t used it will one day be gone
and that would be a real tragedy. Hopefully the swim will raise some money to
continue to fund the Lido and encourage others to make the most of this amazing
place. After all if I can swim 844 laps in one go maybe a few people will think
they can come down and swim a couple.
The swim will take place on Sunday the
15th of July at the Sandford Parks Lido in Cheltenham starting at
6am and continuing for as long as it takes! You can sponsor me at www.justgiving.com/lido42kmswim
or turn up on the day to swim a few laps with me.
