‘Not just a pool, but a community centre championing fitness, nutrition and nature’
With so many pools shutting their doors and emptying their tanks in the seemingly never-ending energy crisis, it’s a good news day when a new pool opens for business, especially one with the ‘open water for all’ philosophy at the heart of it such as Sea Lanes Brighton.
Sea Lanes Brighton also features 23 business units designed to blend in with the environment, including a strength and conditioning unit, yoga centre, endless pool, nutritional café, a crèche and, importantly, a mat that stretches down to the sea with outdoor showers for sea swimmers.
Sea Lanes’ director Ross Gilbert says: ‘Our challenge was, getting people down to Brighton, how do you get them to turn left instead of right at the pier? So, we were looking at not just building a pool, but building a community and a culture.
This is the first national open-water swimming centre, so it’s about nutrition, it’s about training, it’s about swimming in the pool and the sea.’
It will be fascinating to watch how Sea Lanes fits into Britain’s open-water swimming offering, but the directors feel that Brighton’s remarkable bathing history has been given a contemporary update – and more people will be turning left rather than right at the pier.
Booking and membership information for Sea Lanes Brighton
Owing to high demand, membership has been paused at Sea Lanes, but it may reopen and you can register interest at www.sealanesbrighton.co.uk. It costs £45-55 a month to join. The public can book individual swims via the South Downs Leisure app at £11 a session.
READ MORE ABOUT SEA LANES BRIGHTON IN OUR CURRENT ISSUE, Swim 3.