In a press release, the sports body calls for the continuity of public service.
The French Swimming Federation (FFN) asked for the reopening on Tuesday “immediate» of the thirty swimming pools closed on Monday, managed by the company Vert Marine, which ensures that it cannot meet the energy bill. Vert Marine justified these closures on Monday by assuring that its energy bill had gone from “15 to 100 million euros“, that is “the company’s total annual turnover“.
“Could we accept that a mayor closes a school for economic reasons?“Asks the FFN in a press release. “These closures have direct consequences for all children and adults who will not be able to learn to swim.“, she adds. The Ministry of Sports has madeknow how to swim» one of the axes of its policy for several years in order to prevent drownings.
“Ensuring the continuity of public service»
The company Vert marine, which manages 90 swimming pools and ice rinks in total in France, launched a call on Monday “to local and governmental authorities in order to take the necessary and unprecedented decisions to return to bearable energy costs“. In addition to the discussions with the communities, which are also bent under an overall energy bill sometimes multiplied by two according to France Urbaine, which manages metropolises and large cities, it also appeals to the government.
For its part, the FFN also asks “all players to assume their responsibilities to ensure the continuity of this public service“. This question of swimming pools and ice rinks, aging equipment in France and very energy-intensive, is on the menu of the government sports working group on energy sobriety.
Snep-FSU steps up to the plate
The Snep union (national physical education union) FSU was also moved by these closures which are taking place “to the detriment of students“. “Preserving the financial balance put forward by the private companies that manage certain swimming pools must not come before the general interest. It is a reductive vision that forgets all the educational, health, leisure and safety benefits“, he wrote in a press release.
“Since the Covid-related confinements the social cost of swimming pool closures has been extremely heavy, with a generation of 800,000 students unable to learn to swim in 2020 and 2021“, adds the union. This question of swimming pools and ice rinks, aging equipment in France and very energy-intensive, is on the menu of the government sports working group on energy sobriety.
According to the latest drowning survey by Public Health France to date, from June to September 2021, 1,480 accidental drownings were counted, 27% of which led to death.