Outdoor Swimming Information

At Pool Bridge Farm, we have rigorous safety and risk assessments in place, but we let you make the decisions. You need to come prepared and do your own research.

What we have onsite:

  • Throw ropes and life rings at least every 50m

  • Safe entrances and exits to all lakes

  • Jetties where it’s deep enough to jump

  • First Aid Kits (including burns, eye wash and hypothermia kits)

  • 2 Defibrillators (and onsite staff trained in how to use them and deliver CPR)

  • Air horns to raise alarms

  • Regular water testing- sewage-free swimming and an industry-leading marine biologist who leads our water quality programme.

  • Thermometers so you can check the water temperature

  • Watercraft and swimmers don’t mix. We have a separate area for SUP and Kayaks.

  • A swim coach who can provide an intro to cold water swimming sessions if you require (See our What Else Is On page)

  • Rules for child ratios, supervision and PFDs

  • Access to a phone for calling the emergency services

  • All the team members have radios for raising alarms

  • Designated First aiders onsite from 8am-8pm (in fact, almost every member of the team is trained in emergency first aid and CPR)

  • The team are trained to use all our water rescue equipment, and videos of how to use it yourself can be found on our socials

  • The Team are all trained in recognising and dealing with hypothermia

  • Emergency location posters all over the site (What3words etc)

  • Posters and information, including the whereabouts of all our emergency equipment

  • Fire extinguishers and an external Fire Risk assessment carried out

  • An Emergency action plan (you can find this in the information hut)

  • A Full site risk assessment, which has also been externally verified

  • All our H&S has been checked and approved by the City of York Council H&S team.

  • Regular safety checks are carried out by the team

What we don’t have:

  • Lifeguards - we are a wild swimming venue, not a supervised swimming venue.

  • Strict rules on wetsuits/tow floats - you need to decide what works for you

Please do your research:

The Outdoor Swimming Society - Great advice for those swimming outside all year round

RLNI - Ice swimming advice

RNLI - Float to Live

RLSS - Cold water swimming advice

Hypothermia - What happens when you get too cold and what to do

Transient Global Amnesia - A rare side effect of cold water

Swimmer’s itch - a potential annoyance of summer swimming, especially for those swimming long distances. Ideas of how to prevent and what to look out for.

Swimming with Toddlers - advice for those with little ones

RLSS - Paddleboarding Safety

British Heart Foundation- Using a Defibrillator

Please also check the locations of our water safety equipment before swimming and ensure you know how to use it.

We have throw lines, life rings and air horns at least every 50 m around the lakes and at all the saunas, please do make sure you know their locations and watch our hand videos on how to use them.