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Comment by elric | Hacker News Reader

In Belgium, we don't even have swimmable pools. There are too few of them, their opening hours are worthless, going for a swim is stupidly expensive (~8eur), and many pools now require that you show them ID before you're allowed to enter. In all, it's become extremely unpleasant.

The results are as depressing as expected: more drownings (especially in the north sea) every year, and kids can barely stay afloat anymore.

There's a shortage of lifeguards, and (imo) some serious overregulation. No swimming allowed anywhere unless there are lifeguards on duty. It's a catch-22. People don't swim, so they suck at swimming, so they drown when they do swim, so we get more restrictions, etc.

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I have the same frustration about Belgium's overregulation, especially because across the border in the Netherlands you're basically allowed to swim anywhere you want!

On a related overregulation note, I visited a playground in Leuven recently where they had to decouple the water toys because regulations requires playgrounds to use drinkable water for water toys, and the eco-warriors were against spilling drinkable water for the playground. Again in the Netherlands they just pump ground water for the water toys in playgrounds

In Belgium, I pay 4.5 eur as an adult to use any of the numerous swimming pools around me. Also, I never had to show my ID once in my lifetime to enter said pools. My kids are perfectly afloat and learned to swim with their school by going to the pool every week.

Not denying your personal experience, just sharing another point of view from another part of the country.

Same experience as the sibling, here in Antwerp. The swimming pool I sometimes go to is 4 euros (2 euros for people less than 25) and for 5 euros there's an open air heated swimming pool on Linkeroever.

Also this summer one could swim in the Bonaparte dock, in the old harbour in the city center.

I suck at swimming though, although I grew up on the Atlantic coast right next to the sea and bathed daily each summer. So I prefer shallow coasts rather than swimming pools.

I'm not sure which pool you're using, but Wezenberg is 5eur for adults, or 7.50 if you don't live in Antwerp. The cheaper pools (e.g. Plantin or Groenenhoek) are 4 or 6eur, and their opening hours are ridiculous (pretty much only open during office hours and a couple of hours during the weekend).

Many municipalities don't even have a pool anymore, which forces people to use the pool in the nearest city and pay the higher prices. Some schools have stopped swimming classes entirely because of a lack of pools.

Plantin is even open on Sundays, I find the opening hours acceptable.

Wezenberg is 5 euros which isn't very expensive either for an Olympic swimming pool. But I don't go there.

I'm sure other municipalities lack swimming pools (Say Mont-de-l'Enclus/Kluisberg) but I wouldn't make any generalising over all of Belgium.

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