The quieter swimming session

Text C: an original fiction extract.

When Elena volunteered at the leisure centre's first quieter swimming session, she expected silence to be the easiest part. The notice promised no background music and fewer swimmers. She checked the booking list: twelve names instead of the usual thirty. The lifeguard, Sam, showed her where to stand beside the pool steps. His whistle would still be used for urgent safety instructions; the quiet session did not change that.

The music stopped at ten. Without it, Elena heard the ventilation fans, water striking the filters and a repeated metallic knock from the changing-room door. A woman waiting with her teenage son asked whether the hand dryer could also be switched off. Elena had not thought about a machine outside the pool area. She asked the duty manager, who arranged paper towels and put a temporary sign on the dryer. The door continued knocking whenever somebody entered.

One regular swimmer had booked without reading the new session description. He complained that the lane ropes were in the wrong places and asked why twelve people required the whole pool. Sam explained that fewer overlapping activities were part of the trial. The man stayed, but counted his lengths loudly each time he passed Elena. She felt an immediate urge to correct him. The woman beside her said her son was more troubled by sudden unpredictable sounds than by a voice he could expect.

Halfway through, a child on the steps froze when the public-address system announced a lost locker key. The announcement came from reception and had not been cleared with Sam. The child's father took her to the shallow end until she was ready to return. He did not ask Elena to persuade her to continue. Afterwards he said that knowing the session's order beforehand would help: changing, steps, shallow water, then the option of a lane. A photograph of the entrance would be useful too.

At the end, Elena collected six comment cards. Two people wanted another session, one disliked the altered lane arrangement, and three mentioned clearer information before arrival. The mother and son left without completing a card. Elena almost wrote down what she thought they would have said, then left the space blank. Six cards were six replies, not the opinions of twelve people.

The duty manager asked whether the trial had worked. Elena looked towards the pool, where staff were restoring the usual ropes. The regular swimmer had asked when his normal session would return; the child had managed two journeys along the shallow wall. Neither fact made the other disappear. Elena asked whether they could discuss the session with the staff at reception before booking the next one.

You are Elena. Write a report for the leisure centre’s duty manager after the trial session.

In your response:

• explain what the session provided and the difficulties that emerged
• evaluate what you learned from swimmers’ and families’ responses
• recommend how a future trial could be organised and assessed

Base your response on Text C, developing its ideas in your own words. Write about 250 to 300 words. Up to 10 marks are available for reading and up to 10 marks for writing.