- The Misconception Surrounding Outdoor Swimming Pools: "Vacation Bliss and Ideal Society Within Reach"
The summer break in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland has concluded, days are shortening, and visits to open-air swimming pools are diminishing. For numerous individuals, summer signifies swimming - for some in the Mediterranean, for others in the outdoor swimming venue. Author Arno Frank, hailing from Kaiserslautern, depicts a summer day between the diving board and sunbathing area in his novel "Seaman from the Seventh". Seldom has anyone portrayed such an engrossing blend of lightness, melancholy, and rivalry in swim shorts and bikinis.
Yet, what forms the legend of the outdoor swimming venue? "It's a communal space where all societal differences are erased," Frank stated to the German Press Agency. Such spaces are becoming increasingly scarce, they are narrowing down. "The outdoor swimming venue encourages both athletic feats and relaxation, this often-neglected cultural practice. It is one of the friendliest communal spaces we are acquainted with."
Some individuals link their childhood recollections with the outdoor swimming venue. Why is that? "Many create their first essential and predominantly personal experiences there, from learning to swim to romance, from sunburn to the initial kiss," Frank explained, who contributes to periodicals such as "Der Spiegel" and "taz". The outdoor swimming venue is a vacation and paradise in a single entity. "Here, what psychology calls primary memories are conceived."
The miniature world of the outdoor swimming venue in peril
Some perceive the miniature world of the outdoor swimming venue in jeopardy - keywords: mass-scale fights, lifeguard scarcity, body shaming, topless debate. "Keywords are intended to inflict pain, and they occasionally do," Frank said. "I have thus banned them from my outdoor swimming venue." The world still infiltrates, of course.
"If it is seriously endangered, then by its capitalist colonization and exploitation," the author said. Once, there were more than 5,000 outdoor swimming venues nationwide, and now there are scarcely over 3,500. "Body shaming is not the source of this."
In Rhineland-Palatinate, numerous swimming venues have also shut down in recent years, often due to structural and safety concerns and for financial reasons. This results in severe consequences. Around 60 percent of ten-year-olds cannot swim proficiently, according to the DLRG. Due to fewer swimming venues, it means fewer chances to learn to swim. And it means fewer chances to unwind - in a unique environment, as long as the weather and the distinct outdoor swimming venue feeling permit it.
The 'Myth' of the outdoor swimming venue as a place of unity and equality, as mentioned by Arno Frank, is that it serves as a communal space where societal differences are erased. This 'Myth' is further strengthened by Frank's assertion that primary memories are often formed within the outdoor swimming venue, making it a paradise of sorts. On the contrary, another 'Myth' that is commonly associated with these venues is their potential decline due to various factors such as mass-scale fights, lifeguard scarcity, body shaming, and topless debates.
