It’s Swimple: opening up private water to everyone

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to rent a private pool like you rent private accommodation through Airbnb? Ella Foote chats to the founders of Swimple, the Airbnb for swimming pools, and discovers a stunning pool with Victorian greenhouse in an ancient woodland

Access to water in the UK is a huge issue. We only need to look back on our summer to see how a changing climate is increasing the need for everyone to be able to learn to swim and enjoy cooling off in the water. There are thought to be somewhere in the region of a quarter of a million private pools in UK gardens and homes. The exact figure is hard to pin down, but at the same time the UK’s public pools are shrinking. UK pool stock has been falling for years with 76% of all publicly accessible water lost in the last 15 years disappearing since 2020 alone. Even where pools are operating, lane swimming and leisure centres are not for everyone. For private pool owners, having a body of water to swim in at your own leisure is a dream, but public or private, running a pool is costly.

One answer might already be sitting behind a garden hedge on your street. Dubbed the Airbnb of pools, Swimple is providing a platform to allow private pool owners to rent out their pool by the hour. It’s a simple idea with the potential to solve two problems at once, giving pool owners a way to offset the cost of running a pool that might be largely unused, while also opening up private water to swimmers.

The idea behind Swimple started, fittingly, with a family pool going quiet. The founders Nic and Dave Crum’s childhood pool at their dad’s home near Manchester was largely unused. “It had been sitting empty, doing very little for a long time,” Nic says. “It is a bit of a costly liability and so dad started renting it out to the local community. From day one it took off and was incredibly popular, with lots of people wanting to have access to a private pool experience. I half-jokingly said we would have to expand and become the Airbnb of pools to meet demand, but then when I sat down with my brother, we thought, it is not a terrible idea!” Neither of them are from a pool operator or leisure background, Nic is a film producer and Dave an accountant, but they had an idea that could solve two problems at once.

Tech has been a big part of the business development; Swimple operates on a web browser, but it is easier to book pools if you download the App. Once you have registered, you can search for pools in your area and book directly through Swimple, much like Airbnb. Pool owners set the pricing, times, type of access, who can come and how many. The owner has to have insurance, which is offered by Swimple, and keep pool maintenance, risk assessment and emergency procedures up to date.

As a swimmer and swim teacher, the idea is instantly appealing. As well as passionate swimmers, the people who are drawn to these private pools are often those with additional needs. Stripping off to almost nothing with strangers at a leisure centre is a barrier for many people with cultural needs, while the noise, sounds and smells can trigger neurodivergent adults and children.

“At dad’s pool, we see families with neurodivergent children who can’t handle the stimulus of a loud public pool,” says Nic. “Or people who are nervous about learning to swim and wanting to take their time, not feel judged.” As a teacher and coach, I can see advantages in being able to book private pools to help those with aquaphobia or just starting their swimming journey.

For pool owners, the experience has been overwhelmingly positive. As well as help covering the cost of a pool, it opens their homes to new people and their stories. I visited a beautiful pool in Surrey owned by Laurie and Owen Morgan, who took on a Victorian house as a renovation project, but also to be their family home.

The family moved in a year ago and set about restoring the pool. “We restored the pool before we really had a decent living space in the house,” Laurie laughs.

Running the pool initially was a huge cost. “We don’t have gas here and we were using oil, heating the pool was costing us £26 a day and we couldn’t sustain that,” says Laurie. “The whole property now runs off solar, which has reduced costs significantly but with our restoration project, every swim booked now pays for a tin of paint!”

As well as having a lovely space for her own children to learn to swim, Laurie has loved sharing the pool with the local community. “We have lots of families who visit because they can’t handle public pools as they are overwhelming and it is lovely to hear other children laughing and having fun,” she says. “We have a regular swimmer who is halfway through chemotherapy who can’t go to public pools, but swimming is her thing. She comes and just floats, enjoys the peace.”
While Swimple isn’t going to fix the crisis in the UK, it does do something valuable. It turns private water, previously invisible, into something a community, neighbour, swim school or coach can actually use.

Visit swimple.co.uk for more information. Thanks to Laurie and Owen for opening up their pool for us to take a dip.