The Book-ification Of Swimming (And Everything)

"Do you have a booking?"

A familiar refrain when you rock up to a swim venue these days. Or any venue for that matter.

Spontaneity appears to be dead, but in my opinion it's far more sinister than that.

How do we have a situation where a body of water can be right in front of you, but only accessible if you passed through some digital labyrinth ~1 week earlier?

At what point did it become necessary for machines to intercede in our ability to access the water? The dreaded 2020 "C" word clearly had something to do with it, but the problem is much deeper.

Computer Says No

We are facing a crisis of real, human-to-human connection. Our phones seem to intrude on every single thing we do in life, which is quite literally frying our brains.

What's beautiful about a swim is that, for a brief moment, all of that goes away. You can't have your phone with you — all you can do is engage directly with the water & anyone you might be with.

I find it quite dystopian therefore that our access to this tech-free space is now so often gated by technology. Especially in the summer, where Glastonbury-like booking wars over swim slots have become the norm, turning what should be a relaxing swim into a cortisol inducing nightmare.

Supply & Demand

The fact these booking systems are considered necessary (I don't accept they are by the way) speaks to another issue, which is the lack of accessible swim spots.

In London there is evidently a fear that, as demand for swimming has grown (particularly in the summer), the risk of existing swim spots being overrun & rendered unsafe has become untenable.

The response to this has been to restrict & tightly control access to these spaces, for example through booking systems. But surely a better solution would be to make more of London's extensive waterways, ponds & reservoirs swimmable, thus increasing supply to meet the rising demand.

The Immersion Effect

At a more general level, I've noticed a real cultural aversion here to the notion that people should have free access to swimming — what some countries call a right to swim.

This seems to be driven by two concerns: safety and a desire to protect nature & wildlife. But in my opinion this approach is actively harmful to those two objectives.

The more access people have to swim and spend time in and around the water, the more they learn to respect it, understand the risks & gain confidence. Not only does this make swimming safer, but it engenders a special respect & appreciation for nature.

This fosters a ground-up culture of swimming which has safety & respect for nature hardcoded at it's core.

But this can also happen in reverse — a downward spiral caused by limiting access to water, which results in people being less safe & caring less about the natural world.

Unfortunately I think this is where we are now.

Bobbing Along #21