Swimming pool De Leewal in Exloo was one of the first in Drenthe to open its doors this morning. The lines were immediately in front of the cash register. The swimmers braved the rain. Within fifteen minutes of opening, there were already ten people in the pool.
“We have rain now. Last year it was dry; a beautiful day. And now it is sputtering a bit. But what do you do about it? Nothing. We already have a number of swimmers, fortunately. They are real that hard“, says manager Henk Smit.
In 2020, the swimming pool chose to invest in sustainability. There came heat pipes and solar panels. “This means you incur lower costs. Normally on a day like today you would use 2,500 to 4,000 cubic meters of gas. A lot. Thanks to solar energy, consumption is very minimal. That is also the reason why we have the swimming pool in Exloo open from April 1 to the end of October.”
The water is about 20 degrees. “It’s chilly when you jump in, but afterwards it’s nice,” says an older man.
“It’s wonderful to swim again,” says a middle-aged woman. That rain? That does not matter. “You’re getting wet.”
