Cork Views: We need an outdoor swimming pool in Cork city

I visited the seaside town of Blackrock, Co Louth, for the first time recently. Bathed in sunshine, the bustling seaside village is filled with shops, medical centres, pubs, and a church with one of the best views in Ireland.

At the far end of the promenade is a block of apartments and what was once a den for sea scouts. A closer look revealed photos along the low boundary of an outdoor seawater swimming pool built in 1956 at a cost of £20,000. When it opened in 1962, it was the only 50m pool in the country. It’s tiered seating could accommodate up to 800 spectators and for 20 years it was one of the principal recreational facilities in Louth. It eventually closed in the 1980s and was demolished in 1995.

One wonders why such an amazing community facility was allowed be lost. But then we have a similar story in Cork.

The Lee Baths closed in 1986, two years before I arrived in the city. So many people have recounted fond memories of what was a big part of city life for young and old.

As pools across the city are bursting with babies taking their first strokes for expensive lessons, and clubs have long waiting lists for competitive swimming, isn’t it time we resurrected the baths and recreated the concept of a spanking new 50m outdoor swimming pool in the heart of the city?

A safe, open-air, 50m pool would bring huge and much-needed economic, social, community as well as health and wellbeing benefits.

It could be used for year round recreation and competitive swimming and diving events. Hundreds of young workers spilling out of offices, cafés and apartments would welcome an opportunity to shake off the shackles of a working day and dive into cold sea water. Swimming classes for babies and young kids at a minimum fee would keep the pool busy at other times. School trips from city schools and further afield would avail of its facilities.

For me, the benefits are immediate. Swimming in the open air is a teeth-chattering, mind-bending, sleep-inducing experience that is better than almost anything else.

Health benefits

Experts recommend adults get 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity every week – swimming is one of the best ways to work your entire body, including heart and lungs.

But don’t take my word for it. The evidence shows swimming increases your heart rate without stressing your body. It tones muscles, builds strength and endurance. Each stroke builds on different muscle groups and the water provides a gentle resistance.

There is evidence of risk of death in swimmers being about half that for non-swimmers, including for walkers and runners. Research shows swimming is good for lowering blood pressure and controlling blood sugar. It can help reduce and improve recovery after an injury. One study showed it can reduce pain and stiffness in people with osteoarthritis.

A key benefit of regular swimming is its impact on sleep. In a study of older adults with insomnia published in 2011, participants reported a boost in quality of life and in sleep after engaging in all types of regular exercise including swimming.

It is also an excellent way to burn calories. A 160lb swimmer burns about 423 calories an hour at a low or moderate pace. At a vigorous pace, in can increase to 715 calories an hour.

Mental health

The benefits of exercise in the treatment of depression have been documented for over 100 years. We know the brain releases chemicals during exercise that both prevent and treat depression, such as opiates, cannabinoids and endorphins. Further research outlines how exercise confers benefits like self- esteem, a sense of achievement, being in control, improvements in memory and cognition. and having a sense of purpose.

Best of all, when I swim in the sea or in a pool, it is like a switch in my brain turns off. All those emails, likes, reminders and WhatsApp messages, all the external noise that distracts and the internal reminders that push into your frontal lobe for immediate attention. There is something special about gliding up and down a pool in the open air, friction-free, that puts everything else on hold.

Dublin has a number of outdoor swimming facilities. Galway has Blackrock diving tower in Salthill, while the City Council has recently applied for funding to create a tidal pool.

Over 100 outdoor swimming facilities in the UK are experiencing a surge in interest and are popular with tourists. Barcelona has two outdoor lidos beside the beach constantly occupied by swimmers. Many of these lidos in Europe are run as social enterprises to benefit the local community.

In 2021, Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced a €400 million urban regeneration investment package in Cork, funding work in the docklands, including transport and mobility infrastructure, public realm schemes like the Marina Park, as well as infrastructure to thousands of new apartments.

While older adults and the very young are catered for in these city schemes, there is a major gap when it comes to the needs of teenagers and young adults.

Research by the RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences showed secondary school age adolescents in Ireland reported more mental health problems in 2021, including an increase in suicide attempts compared to previous years. Are we paying attention?

A quarter of adolescents described their mental health as ‘bad’ or ‘very bad,’ more than a third reported self-harming in their lifetime and one in ten reported attempting suicide.

Yet when it comes to urban design and public realm infrastructure, the specific needs of youths are inadequately addressed.

The Cork Lido Campaign estimates the cost of an outdoor swimming pool to be around €9m, with a number of sites under consideration including Horgan’s Quay.

It is time Cork City Council took the plunge and built a state-of-the-art 50-metre open-air pool, aligned with public transport infrastructure that would benefit citizens from every age and background for generations to come.

And it’s not just Cork – all our major coastal cities would benefit from significant investment in outdoor swimming facilities.

Good public facilities that are both affordable and accessible within the city are a win-win for everyone. Let’s just get on with it.