There was delight at Hatfield Swim Centre on Monday as people returned for group fitness sessions, following the easing of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions as part of the Government’s coronavirus roadmap.

While a limited number of people have still been allowed to swim at the centre in Lemsford Road, group classes have not been able take place.

General manager James Matthews was pleased to welcome back regulars as well as new members, telling the Welwyn Hatfield Times: “I’m more than excited."

“It’s been a long time coming and we’ve all been wanting to have this in place for a long time," he said.

"To see the regulars coming back after so long, that means absolutely everything to us.

“We’ve also had a lot of enquiries from people about coming in to use the pool. We’ve found that people are still a bit reluctant to come in, but when we tell them about the safety measures we have in place we’ve seen more and more new people coming in.

“It’s the same with classes. People have been worried, but we show them what we are doing, the areas we have and the cleaning stations and they’ve signed up.”

The safety of those attending classes has been of paramount importance, with James explaining that extra social distancing measures have been put in place at the centre.

“We’ve been following the guidance that is in place, but we’ve gone a step further with the social distancing, so we are doing it as three metres instead of two metres,” he said.

“Each person and the instructor has their own designated square and they are spaced out for whatever class they want to come in and do.

“It does mean lowering the capacity but we are making it work.”

Despite concerns over the new Indian variant of COVID-19, which may lead to the June 21 stage of the Government’s roadmap being delayed, James was keen to encourage people to visit the centre and see that they have gone ‘above and beyond’ to ensure people stay safe.

“Myself or another member of the team will walk you round and show you how we are doing things. We’ve made sure to go above and beyond to make sure people are safe when they are here.”

For more information go to www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/welwyn-hatfield/hatfield-swim-centre.