Avoid Sports Lifestyle (Swimming Center Review)

Their boss and manager (Nathaniel) are both unfit to open and run an establishment. The boss is a tall, lazy and fat sloppy-looking man who doesn't do anything to improve the place. The bald-headed manager about 26~32 years old or so, is very rude, egotistical and a bully.   

If you're looking for swimming instructors, go elsewhere. I have seen the way they "teach".  Nathaniel stands along the side of the pool and starts shouting as if he's in the army. Crazy man.  He has no PR skills at all.

In the beginning, when I first encountered him regarding my swimming membership, it was a Saturday or Sunday. He told me that he is only here outside because other staff are absent. Said he stays in the office and don't come out. (That's why the place is a mess, I was thinking.). 

He said he's been manager of "this place" for "many years" since 2000. I clarified with him what he meant by "this place" because I've been here and never seen him. He said "Sports Lifestyle".  It was with some difficulty that I got him to tell me his name.  When he said it, it was so cowardly soft, I had to ask him to repeat.

Since then, it was bad with this manager. On three occasions, he told/ordered me to move to another lane because his students wanted to use my side of the pool.

On another occasion, another of his swimming instructors also told me to move.

They think it's a given that people should move when they order it. In fact, this kind of thinking is unfair to swimmers in any swimming pool. 

First of all, I paid to swim here. Second, I am in the middle of my swim, my adrenaline is going, I am on a roll. Third, I was here first. Fourth, the pool is big enough for the students to swim on another side.

All reasons for any swimmer not to move.

At Clementi Swimming Complex, I once shouted at a lifeguard for telling me to move into a crowd of men on the right side of the pool just because school students were going to come in. Those stupid male swimmers "guai guai" obeyed him and all dared not speak up despite being forced into a corner. No goddamn guts. Call themselves men.

Why should I put up with the swimming complex way of making money from letting hoards of school kids crash into the pool? In the past, swimming complexes in Singapore didn't do this.  I have to sacrifice my time and money just because the swimming pool wants to make money?

However, on 3 of those occasions at the Sports Lifestyle Centre, I moved to another lane.

On the 4th occasion, that was it.  When Nathaniel told me to move and expected me to, I said "Sorry, not this time". He and his students were so surprised. He didn't know what to say.

He wouldn't look at me and was slightly red-faced as he cowardly tried to say that his students needed this section etc... etc...

I said I'm on my last lap. Very reluctantly, he agreed to let me complete it.  What a shitty man.  I shouldn't even have asked him to let me to complete it. Should have just scolded him in front of his students.

After that, I never returned. 

And not just him.

At the start of their "new" branch, when I first encountered the boss in order to feedback to him about a matter, he didn't even bother to greet or give his name.

The staff coordinator or supervisor named Lydia was also very rude. She was there at the start of the branch. Completely lacking in customer relationship skills.  

There was quite an effective male staff there who took my pool feedback seriously and had the ends of the pool scrubbed till sparkling clean the next time I was there. I never saw him again.  Thereafter, they never bothered scrubbing the pool ends and when I mentioned, they will pretend not to see and say "where, where?".

The swimming "coaches" are not "teaching" anything. The training techniques are all wrong. Coaches stand dry along the side of the pool while shouting orders and not even looking at their students. 

Look at their Facebook recruitment ad. It says "Open to fun and sporty individuals with NO coaching experience.".  (They even capitalize and emphasize the "no".).

When they first opened their branch,  it appeared they had no money:

1) The showers by the side of the pool were spoilt and never repaired.
2) The swimming pool filters were not working yet they were oblivious of it.
3) The competition pool was frequently green with algae and I had to tell them.
4) Black sooty scum coated both ends of the competition pool and despite bringing it to their attention, they only scrubbed once. After that, they ignored it and never scrubbed again.
5) The deck/lounging sofas by the poolside used to have cushions but cushions were removed and the chairs left like that.

The whole place is a sad ghost of its former self. This place used to be a very beautiful public swimming pool, well maintained by the lifeguards and Singapore Sports Council (SSC). I wish the SSC would take it back and do it the way it was again.

It is a disgrace that this once beautiful pool landed into the hands of this shitty Sports Lifestyle.

On the surface, the admin office looks as if there are very few staff. But go there during evening and suddenly many staff will spill out from behind the office. Over-staffed and lazy.

Yes, I was the one who called the NEA on them. For casually flinging cups of chlorine powder into the water while 2 women were swimming.  Done by an unprofessional, shirtless man with two kids running after him.