Right before the summer fully hits right across the country (though it already feels like the surface of the sun in some parts), a pool-sharing company has kicked off in Australia and honestly, how the hell has nobody thought of this before?
[jwplayer V5yvWCsx]
It’s basically like AirBnB but for having a quick dip in a nearby pool, US-based startup Swimply is pretty much taking the awkward part out of going for a private dip, which is either a) asking your neighbours if you can cool off in their backyard pool, b) hoping and praying that someone will move into a house with a pool, or c) jumping the fence of a holiday house to have a swim. Which I have never done in my years of growing up in a small coastal town nope no you can’t prove that I have.
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Swimply’s founder Bunim Laskin said that he got his start in the small pool-sharing US market/pond by literally looking up neighbourhoods on Google Earth to find out who had a pool and then doorknocking.
After a noted Hot Girl Summer in the States, the app has now finally launched in Australia, allowing us to book in some private pool time if we don’t feel like nipping down to the local petri dish for a few laps.
From what it looks like on the website, pool-sharing reservations can begin at around $30 an hour for your bog-standard dip, and goes up from there, depending on how luxurious the experience is, I guess.
At first, I thought “jeez that’s a bit bloody steep for a splash in someone’s pool” but I guess if you’re going to split it with a few mates then it’ll probably end up being around the same as entry to your local public pool, right?
I can also only expect that as more folks put their backyard oasis up for offer on Swimply, PH testing kit sales are going to go through the roof and cases of nicking over the fence to have a dip will be a hell of a lot harder than it was when I was a kid.
And I really shouldn’t have to say this but if you’re going to sign up and swim in your neighbours’ pools, please please don’t piss in them. Please.
