The main problem is that the number of instructors and their students have clearly outstripped the capacity of the lone swimming pool. At times, there are at least four instructors conducting classes of seven or eight students at both ends and the middle of the pool. Learners are made to swim both parallel and perpendicular to the swimming lanes. Each class typically lasts an hour before the next batch of students arrives.

These classes compete for limited space with regular swimmers who swim as a leisure activity or those engaged in serious endurance training. It is especially the latter group that presents a serious hazard to learners due to their more aggressive swimming style. No doubt it is the duty of the swimmers to look out for others crossing their path, but the crowd leaves little room to anticipate and react, and a more pre-emptive approach is required.

The solution is not new. Woodlands Swimming Complex has separate lanes for learners and regular swimmers. This practice is only a matter of due diligence on the part of the pool management to achieve an equitable compromise for the two groups, one that is lacking at Serangoon.

Another solution is to limit the number of swimming instructors to two or three at any time, and allocating them specific time slots made known to other swimmers so they can avoid them. Currently, the pool is busy with classes throughout the day, except for one or two odd hours when regular swimmers can swim freely.

Anders Lee Wei