Overview

• A new VKU survey of 113 municipal operators covering 124 indoor pools reports that 52% require comprehensive renovation and only 18% are recently refurbished.
• Operators point to funding barriers, with 83% calling current grants inadequate or unsuitable, 71% citing higher interest rates, and 79% reporting sharply increased construction costs.
• Limited infrastructure is constraining instruction, as 62% see strong demand for course time while 79% say children swim worse than a decade ago and 68% say they learn later.
• Although 93% receive payments for freeing lanes for school swimming, 91% say the fees do not cover costs, leaving little capacity to add lessons.
• Industry groups press for long-term federal funding, including calls for about €1 billion annually versus the government’s €250 million plan, as many 1960s–70s facilities need up to three years to refurbish and the DLRG warns of roughly 80 pool closures each year, with total pools down from about 7,800 in 2000 to around 6,000.