Posted By Miriam I am a member of a private health club which has a swimming pool 22 metres long x 5 metres wide x 1.5 metres deep end to end. This pool is laned off. One half for general swimming (any number of people); the other half for Scuba diving 'shallow water' training (5 people). Where the health risks are concerned, I've been in touch with the London School of Diving who say Scuba equipment should be sanitised to prevent bacteria from open water usage of such equipment contaminating the swim pool. Also, that additional insurance is required where Public Liability is concerned. There are also the obvious safety risks of two very different activities taking place in close proximity to each other. I would like to hear your views on this matter.

Posted By Lewis T Roberts Miriam, Contamination from scuba equipment from the open water environment is rare. Persons who own or rent this type of equipment due to it’s expense and reasons of personal safety are generally very pro-active in it’s maintenance which includes hygiene. The vast majority of instructors are very professional in the adoption of risk management in every situation and are aware of the potential hazards. Insurance would be covered by both the instructors or instructor Company and the health club as they both own the liability. I have to agree with Ken that if there is adequate segregation and supervision of swimmers and other activities the potential risks are minimized. My experience of private health clubs is that they don’t employ enough or any supervision. When they do the supervisors or lifeguards are treated like an extension of a crèche for parents who can’t be bothered to participate with there own children. This is where the majority of risks are realized. Hope this helps Lew

Posted By Jim Sweetman Miriam, I'm curious that you say that swimming and SCUBA diving are very different activities. After all, they are both swimming activities even though the divers use some extra kit. Do the swimmers not try to swim underwater at any point? The points made so far about washing kit off after use are correct, it is recommended practice. The main reason being to ensure that the equipment is properly looked after. The last thing a diver wants underwater is an equipment malfunction. As regards sanitation, it is not normally a point that is actively considered. Some divers will insist on wearing hoods, no matter how warm the water, to prevent ear infection. That's about the limit of health considerations from the water. The only other major health consideration being the quantity and quality of breathable air whilst underwater - unless you decide to give up on breathing, that is. As previously mentioned, the pool cleaning/chlorine system should be capable of dealing with most sources of infection. I would have thought that this is a standard consideration as it is reasonably foreseeable that some smelly unwashed bodies may ignore requests to shower first before diving into a no-dive area. Jim

Posted By Richard Spencer Ahoy there! What's wrong with using the open sea? Its summer isn’t it? There’s no ice on the water is there? I thought all Brits could withstand extremes of temperature and it was only us Aussies that were the wimps and craved the warmer climates. I will start to dive again next month – September as the water temperature warms up its about 18 degrees at the moment. Blimey, when I was in Cyprus, you had Brits diving without wet suits, mind you so were the Germans and the Danes etc... But they have an excuse. I was down on the Zenobia off Larnaka and saw countless blue body suits down at 38 metres, and on closer inspection, it was their birthday suits. What would Nelson say if he were alive today Dav? Every English Man This Day Should Do His Duty (I know I’ll probably be told this is wrong) 10 lashes over a 24 lb gun barrel folks

Posted By P Hocking Richard You only start in September? We start around April/May the temperature is about 12 degrees and hasn't improved much. It is only about 14 now. Where do you know thats warmer around our coast? Paul