Hundreds of swimmers have headed back to Burnham-On-Sea Swim & Sports Academy this week when it re-opened for the first time since March.
The facilities in Burnham’s Berrow Road re-opened on Monday (July 27th) with a large number of safety measures in place to keep customers safe, complying with guidance from the Government, Swim England, British Triathlon and UK Active (the governing body for leisure centres).
These range from social distancing rules and sanitizer stations to extra signs, a one-way system into the pool, and a two-hour closure each afternoon for deep cleaning, plus perspex screens in front of reception and around the coffee bar.
The Academy’s co-owner Sara Cox-Conklin told Burnham-On-Sea.com she is “very relieved” to be open again and thanked the community for their support.
Some of the extra safety measures include:
- Daily Temperature & Health Checks for all staff
- No General Public Open Swims
- Track & Trace system in place for all users
- Reduced operating hours
- Temperature check for all visitors if requested
- Members Only Pool “Family” Sessions (Academy Swim/Tri/Health Club)
- No Visitors (Drop-in members) permitted in the Gym
- Payments taken over the phone
- Academy closure each day from 1:30pm – 3:30pm for Deep Clean from dedicated professional cleaning staff
- Towels & personal items not permitted into the Gym (except water bottles)
- Perspex Screens implemented at Café area
- Restriction of One Adult per Child in Changing village for Swimming Lessons
- Reduced timetables for Pool & Health Club.
- Restricted numbers in Swimming Pool to ensure distancing of 6 m2 per user
- Users requested to arrive “gym” or “swim” ready (i.e. swimsuit under regular clothes) to avoid congestion in changing village
- Pre-bookings for all Swim Academy & Health Club Classes
- All Academy Health Club Classes have restricted numbers: Cardio Studio = 12 + Instructor; Spin Studio = 12 + Instructor; Aqua Aerobics = 15 + Instructor; Gym = 8 members
- Swim Lessons have been staggered to enable a 50% reduction in changing villages
- The Academy shop is now limited to 1 user or a “family bubble” at any one time
Sara added: “We’ve had amazing support on our opening day – with 95% of customers saying they are coming back.”
“Putting in place all the safety guidance has been quite a minefield to follow this fully through. It’s been a big investment to put all the measures in place but you can’t put a price on keeping people safe.”
“We have taken the approach of making our facilities as safe as possible, while keeping it friendly at the same time – we want to be welcoming.”
She added: “Being closed since March has been hugely challenging – it has been very difficult – and so to be able to welcome back our customers after 128 days of being closed is wonderful. A huge thank you goes to our customers for their support.”
More details about the revised schedule of cardio classes and swimming are available here.
