Swimming pleasure or health risk? The latest bathing meadow debacle!

Swimming pleasure or health risk? The latest bathing meadow debacle!

Swimming, sun and lots of visitors – the outdoor pool season is in full swing. But this year in particular, we are not only looking at the cool water, but also at the circumstances that are going on in and around the pools. In her research into bathing, Inga Widdau took up an important topic: showering before swimming. You hear swear words like “gym bag forgetter” and “warm showerer” again and again. The author of the F.A.Z. He even identifies himself as a warm showerer and enjoys the warm water, although this sometimes affects the water quality in the outdoor pools.

The question of bathing culture is increasingly being discussed. What swimwear is allowed and what happens if you don't follow the rules? This summer in particular, the challenges of accepting refugees have come into focus. Representatives from Giessen and other cities, such as District Administrator Thorsten Stolz from the SPD, said that with the responsibility of taking in large numbers of refugees every week, they often feel left alone and that social cohesion is at risk. Old issues have been pushed into the background while the housing market has developed into an ever greater challenge.

Topics about swimming and refugees

Berthold Schmitt, CEO of the German Bathing Society and managing director of KölnBäder GmbH, points out that reports of sexual harassment affecting refugees are unfortunate individual cases. The widespread problem is that many refugees cannot swim. Language barriers, insufficient knowledge of German bathing culture and a lack of swimming skills represent major hurdles. Some refugees overestimate their abilities in the water, which has often given lifeguards and swimming masters additional work in recent months.

A recorded incident from Cologne in which a man molested a girl ended with an arrest. Despite such individual cases, Schmitt makes it clear that Cologne is not seeing any increasing problems caused by the approximately 13,000 refugees in the baths. Pool operators have taken preventive measures, such as de-escalation training for staff and multilingual information materials in the refugee accommodations. The distribution of rules of conduct should also contribute to safety and harmonious coexistence in the bathroom.

Dealing with cultural changes

An interesting project on migration-related changes in German swimming pools is the BODYRULES project, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. It examines how the ongoing wave of refugees from 2015 and 2016 has shaped the swimming pool industry. Institute representatives from the University of Potsdam and the medical sociology department at the Charité Berlin are working together to summarize the results. This survey supports the German Bathing Society and shows that the challenges in swimming pools are comparable to those in schools and hospitals.

Ultimately, the need for staff in the swimming pools has not increased due to the refugees, but is primarily due to weather and demand. In Cologne, annual bathroom use is estimated at 2.6 million, although additional use by refugees is not statistically significant. Conflicts between locals and refugees are not new and are not necessarily linked to nationality or gender.

Schmitt draws a conclusion by rejecting a general bathing ban for refugees. “That would be like putting everyone under general suspicion,” he notes, emphasizing the need to pursue these differentiated approaches in a democratic constitutional state. And swimming remains important for everyone - because what could be nicer than splashing around in the cool water on a hot summer day?

In addition to the challenges, there are also some positive developments in Cologne. In Gießen, for example, a new pigeon house is being set up to control the pigeon population - an animal welfare-friendly approach that has met with a great response.

With a gloomy weather forecast for Monday, with 27 degrees and possible thunderstorms, many outdoor pool visitors say: “Wait and enjoy the next few days,” even if sometimes the water is cold or the debates are heated. Finally, there are also various birthday children to celebrate: Bernd Woide, Patrick Kunkel, Birgitta Wolff and Silke Tabbert should not be forgotten!

For anyone interested, further information is available at F.A.Z., World and DGfdB.