Saudi women call for swimming pools to cool off

By MUHAMMAD AL-SULAMI | ARAB NEWS

JEDDAH: With temperatures soaring in the Kingdom these days, a number of Saudi women have called for special women-only swimming pools for them to cool off. They say the pools found in rest houses are expensive and tend to be unclean.

Maram Ahmed, a 19-year-old from Jeddah, called for swimming pools for women in sports clubs, something she said would be beneficial for the overall health of members of the public.

Manal Al-Mazeed, a 22-year-old Saudi girl, said women often have to pay as much as SR1,500 to rent a rest house for a single day to swim. “I wished there were special swimming pools for women at reasonable costs,” she said.

On the other hand, there are plenty of swimming pools that cater to men. However, many men also say these pools are unclean and use chlorine heavily. “There are no protective measures to ensure swimmers do not get skin diseases and the like,” said one local resident.

Abdullah Al-Ahmadi, a resident of the northern city of Hail, said most swimming pools smell of chlorine.

“You can’t be sure that all those who use these swimming pools do not have contagious skin diseases,” he said, adding that the remnants of food are left at the edges of swimming pools and that this can often lead to contamination.

Al-Ahmadi feels most swimming pools in the Kingdom do not abide by health and safety rules. “People employed to look after these pools are usually not checked themselves to ascertain they are not carrying contractable diseases,” he said.

The owners of a number of swimming pools refuted the claims and said they stringently observe health and safety guidelines, including those outlined by the Civil Defense and municipal bodies.

Dr. Nawal Atiq, a dermatologist, said cleaning swimming pools by chlorine could cause certain diseases that affect lungs. She added that asthma can also be triggered by unhygienic swimming pools.

Capt. Bandar bin Hamoud Al-Ahmadi, spokesman for the Civil Defense in Madinah region, said the Civil Defense often inspects public swimming pools to ensure they are clean and healthy.

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SID

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I want swimming pool!!!

MOHAMMED

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I go to a sports club and I have seen that sometimes they don't clean the pools at all and other times they have so much chlorine that everybody's eyes are burning after they come out of the water. The guards don't even tell the people to take showers before getting into the pool. The result is that the pool is so dirty that the water instead of being clear is blurred.

UM YASMINE

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That would be a great Idea if it come true,, Not only for cool off... Swimming, is one off the best sport for the health, if you are swimming. every single muscle will be use. swimming is very healthy. Also it will create some jobs for woman, like Lifeguards, of course there must be also some rules, like correct swimdress, not eating in the water, etc. Also if this come true, it must be built by the government. the ticket price must be low, like day ticket week ticket or Year ticket. Also there should be a place where kids can learn swimming, what l find very important! Every city in Saudi Arabia should have swimming pools for woman, and not only one. It ca not be that swimming pools are only in compounds, or you have to rent a rest house for 1,500 per day?? who can afford that? Dear government please do more for women! Saudi woman would appreciate that be sure

TOMM

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This article has 10 paragraphs. The first 3 talk about women’s request for swimming pools they can use and the remaining 7 discuss how clean / unclean swimming pools in KSA are. What happened to the request by women for pools??

SARRA

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Well its about time...
MORE Swimming pools for WOMAN pleaseee....!!
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