List of long course swimming pools in the United Kingdom
This is an annotated list of swimming pools in the United Kingdom which conform to the Olympic standard. Additionally, it lists other long-course facilities that do not quite come up to the full standard of 50 × 25 metres, 10 lanes. At the start of the 21st century, the provision of 50-metre swimming pools in the United Kingdom was very poor for a developed country. Few universities possessed 50-metre pools, and there was a marked reluctance on the part of municipal authorities to build new public long-course facilities. However, the successful bid to hold the 2012 Summer Olympics in London added impetus to the development of new pools. A number of new venues were completed before and after the Games, although some existing pools were demolished and not replaced by 50-metre facilities. , no university in the UK possesses an Olympic standard pool, though several have an 8-lane 50-metre pool. The Aberdeen Aquatics Centre, being part funded by the University of Aberdeen, is the main pool facility for the university.
Earls Court 1, Earls Court Exhibition Centre. 60m x 30m pool, up to 4m deep. Opened 1937. A 750 tonne retractable floor in three sections covered the pool when not in use and is lowered using water hydraulic rams. Demolished along with the rest of the Exhibition site. Last filled with water as a feature for the Ideal Home Show in 2011. Technical Manager Ray Simpson, who had maintained the pool since 1969, retired in July 2013. Earls Court has hosted both the 1948 and the 2012 Summer Olympics, but swimming was not held there on either occasion. The pool was most closely associated with the Earls Court Boat Show which was held annually from 1960 until 2003.
Grange Lido, Cumbria. Open-air sea-water Art Deco 50m pool, opened 1932, closed 1993, with an undecided future but a vigorous campaign for its reopening for swimming.
Murton Colliery Pool, Murton, County Durham – 50 metre open air pool, built in 1961, and closed in 1991 following the closure of the colliery; filled in.
Wigan International Pool, Wigan – 50 metres, 8 lanes. Closed 21 September 2008, and subsequently demolished. Replaced by a 25 × 21 m pool at the Wigan Life Centre.
Coventry Baths, Coventry - 50 metres, 8 lanes. Closed 15 February 2020 and will be demolished. Replaced by new 50m pool at Alan Higgs Centre.
