London's Aquatic Infrastructure Is Finally Getting the Investment It Deserves — But Gaps Remain

London Aquatics Centre, the centrepiece of the 2012 Olympic legacy in Stratford, recorded more than 800,000 individual visits in 2024-25, making it one of the busiest public swimming venues in Europe. That figure, confirmed by the London Legacy Development Corporation in its annual performance review, puts the facility comfortably ahead of comparable city-owned venues in Paris and Berlin. The detail matters because the capital is now deciding — through a combination of borough-level planning decisions and Greater London Authority funding rounds — which comes next.

The timing is sharper than it might look. England Swimming, formerly known as the Amateur Swimming Association, estimated last year that roughly 17 million adults in England cannot swim a length of 25 metres unaided. London, with its dense and young population, accounts for a disproportionate share of that figure. At the same time, the sport is having a commercial moment: open-water swimming memberships in the capital grew by nearly 40 percent between 2022 and 2025, driven partly by the post-pandemic enthusiasm for outdoor activity that simply has not faded away.

Lidos, Leisure Centres and the Postcode Problem

The capital's lido estate tells the clearest story about where the investment has landed — and where it has not. Brockwell Lido in Herne Hill, run by Fusion Lifestyle under a licence from Lambeth Council, reopened following a £2.5 million refurbishment in spring 2024 and now offers year-round heated outdoor swimming for the first time in its 87-year history. Membership starts at £52 a month. Parliament Hill Lido on Hampstead Heath, managed by the City of London Corporation, charges £4.30 for a single adult swim and drew record attendance last summer. Both venues sit in relatively affluent south and north London catchments.

Contrast that with east and outer east London. The Leyton Leisure Lagoon on Lea Bridge Road — one of the borough's two main public pools — has been operating with a single competitive lane blocked off since February due to a filtration fault that Waltham Forest Council has yet to fully repair. The council confirmed the repair timeline extends to at least September 2026. Meanwhile, Barking and Dagenham has a single 25-metre public pool serving a borough of more than 220,000 people, a ratio that Sport England's 2023 facility planning benchmarks describe as critically insufficient for a population of that density.

What the GLA Is Actually Funding

The Greater London Authority committed £14 million through its 2025-27 Sport and Physical Activity capital programme specifically to aquatic infrastructure. Tooting Bec Lido — at 91 metres the longest freshwater outdoor swimming pool in the UK — is one beneficiary, with £1.1 million earmarked for accessibility improvements to the changing village and poolside. The Hyde Park Serpentine Swimming Club, which has held a royal licence to use the Serpentine since 1930, is separately in negotiation with the Royal Parks to expand its morning slot allocation from five days a week to seven.

On the open-water side, the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority launched a supervised open-water swimming programme at Waterworks Nature Reserve in June 2025 and has extended it through to October this year. Sessions cost £12 and must be booked through the Lee Valley website; the programme sold out its July and August slots within 48 hours of opening in May.

Swimmers looking for competitive infrastructure should note that the London Aquatics Centre at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park operates a lane swimming timetable from 6.30am weekdays, with off-peak admission at £5.70 for adults. The Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in Bromley, home to a 50-metre competition pool, has secured funding for a partial roof replacement due to complete by October 2026 — meaning the facility should enter winter 2026 fully weatherproofed for the first time in over a decade. For families navigating the patchwork, the Active London portal, updated quarterly by the GLA, remains the most reliable single point for checking pool availability and pricing across all 33 boroughs.