I used to be a swimmer and this is why saving swimming pools is so important

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end eventually – even if only temporarily.

This has been particularly true when it comes to the closure of swimming pools in Glasgow in recent years.

From the Whitehill pool being closed since December 2023 due to the discovery of RAAC, to the likes of Tollcross International Swimming Centre closing for refurbishment works for months at a time, it seems there are fewer places for Glaswegians to swim.

(Image: Image of Morgan Carmichael) As a former swimmer myself the casual closures and full-scale shutdowns are concerning.

Having started at the age of 12, I swam for my local amateur club until I was around 18.

What was designed to start as a fun post-school hobby quickly became an all-consuming world of gold medals, personal bests, devastating defeats and competing with the national and international bests.

It is a sport that gave me two things for which I will be forever grateful - some incredible friends I still have to this day and a mental escape.

(Image: Image of a young Morgan after a particularly successful competition!) Candidly, I have always been what my parents would describe as a ‘wee worrywart’. From school to university studies and everyday life, I have always been an overwhelmed, over-thinking child and adult.

To give you all a laugh, this was particularly evident when my dad and I got split from my mum and auntie on a subway in New York and I thought I was never going to see my mum again.

But as I dealt with these episodes of worry, whether from undertaking my Highers, applying for university or losing family members, swimming was like some kind of comfort blanket.

As soon as the water gathered in my never-tight-enough swimming cap, my mind would completely empty.

I would hit the water and magically switch off. It was a silence and calm I desperately needed, and it is why I still go swimming in my free time today.

To think of people not having access to their local pool is a loss we must all take seriously.

Not just from a mental health point of view, there is of course the obvious positive physical impact swimming can have and at its most basic level, swimming is a life-saving skill.

In my 26 years, do you know how many times I have heard the phrase ‘I don’t know how to swim’?

Too many.

And what’s worse, is that I hear it from everyone, parents, adults, young kids and older people.

It was one of the reasons why I became a swimming teacher as my swimming ‘career’ was coming to an end.

It was a position I held for six years before working with my incredible Glasgow Times team.

Teaching kids to swim meant I was instructing a new generation of children how to feel safe and confident in water, and how to see water as a fun place and not a scary one.

I watched children go from being too afraid to put their face in the water, to training them to an experienced pre-club level.

As Scotland recorded 47 accidental drownings in 2023, it is clear that swimming is still as important as ever, if not, more so.

What more proof could we possibly need to see how vital pools are for our local communities?

If you are one of the many who still don’t know how to swim or you are considering if you need to take your children to lessons, please consider the following 11 words; Swimming will save your life, and it can change your life.