As a person with reduced mobility due to a knee injury, part of my physiotherapy involves swimming and using the cycling machine to help build muscle and get the joint moving. The Commonwealth Pool on Dalkeith Rd is a shining example of accessibility as far as I’m concerned, and is the easiest for me to get to. Unfortunately, it’s now closed for refurbishment until 2011, so I am now on a quest to find the second most accessible and also nice pool and gym in Edinburgh.

The Dalry Swim Centre is so far my favourite, but has one fatal flaw: the gym is upstairs and there’s no lift. It’s an old Victorian building (like Leith Victoria and Warrender) and I guess they haven’t got around to putting in a stair lift.

The pool itself is pretty great, though, and there’s a permanent ramp up to the front door for wheelchair access (otherwise it’s a couple of steps) as well as a couple of on-street blue badge parking spaces right outside the front door. From the front desk it’s only a few metres to the first changing room, or about 15m to the disabled changing room and showers, and as the changing rooms surround the pool, not far to get in.

It’s a beautiful, bright building with the changing rooms all around the poolside, but unlike Leith Victoria and Warrender there isn’t a step up to the cubicle, it’s all gloriously flat. The floors are textured, so not too slippery. The cubicle I used (closest to the entrance) had inside not only a bench but also two support bars, which made changing a lot easier. Furthermore, the door wasn’t a horrible heavy self-closing make-you-fall-on-your-ass one – you can actually open it, take your time to get inside, and then close it at your leisure (joy). The cubicle I used was not big enough for a wheelchair, but there is a wheelchair-friendly changing room/shower on the far side of the pool by the communal showers (which also have a handy pull-down seat).

To get into the pool, there’s a functioning hoist, or steps with railings on three corners. Personally I prefer ladders to steps because they have something to hold onto on both sides. The steps are quite steep and the railing is at quite an acute angle which makes it a little difficult to hold on, so may not be suitable if both your legs are unreliable. For a one-legged cripple like me it’s manageable. Another nice thing about the pool, at least when I went, was that it was eerily empty, so I wasn’t constantly in fear of people kicking me by mistake, and the risk of embarrassment (or worse) is less than, say, the more well-attended Leith Victoria. Also, the water was very cool, which is great if you’ve got problems with inflammation.

To get there, there are the aforementioned parking spaces, but if you’re not a blue-badge holder there are on-street parking spaces not too far from the front door. If you’re relying on buses, it’s quite a walk from Dalry Rd (about 3.5 blocks coming from Princes St, and 1.5 going back) since it’s off the main road on Caledonian Crescent.

I think this is my favourite because the gimp factor is so low – they don’t shunt you around in special dumb-waiter-style wheelchair lifts that are inevitably blocked by baby buggies and random doors, or make you go around the back of the building, and if you’re on crutches you can use the regular changing rooms. There aren’t any careless obstacles or unnecessary doors. It’s not so much that they have accessibility provisions, it’s just all accessible. It’s easy. If they had an elevator to the gym, it’d be perfect.

Edit: After emailing Edinburgh Leisure, I’ve been informed there are no plans to install a chair lift to the gym.

If you’re interested in finding a disabled swimming club near you, check out Ableize’s list of swimming clubs in the UK. There doesn’t seem to be one in Edinburgh yet.