6 clubs and groups you can join, with training nights, fees and the beginner route into each.
A weekly Trans and Gender Diverse swim run by Glass Mill Leisure Centre in Lewisham, every Friday 7.30pm to 8.30pm in the teaching pool behind privacy blinds, with changing areas opening straight onto poolside. Open to members and non-members and booked through Better. A session run by the operator, not a club.
Fri
Three natural ponds run by the City of London Corporation, not a club: Highgate Men's Pond for biological and trans men, Kenwood Ladies' Pond for biological and trans women, and the Mixed Pond for everyone, with the access policy settled on 31 July 2026. £5 a swim, £3 concessions, fixed until 31 March 2027, cashless from 1 October 2026. On a hot day the grass bank by the Men's Pond entrance is, per an August 2026 piece, one of the city's main hubs of queer activity.
North · Beginners
Out To Swim's water polo team: an active squad of 80, training four times a week with 20 to 50 a session, and a six-week adult beginners course ending in a friendly. Your first three sessions are free. Beginners were not being accepted until at least September 2026; anyone with past experience can register interest and may get in sooner.
East · Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat · Beginners
Out To Swim's artistic swimming squad, added in April 2009 as the first club in the UK to coach the sport to both men and women. About 20 swimmers of mixed ages and ability, competing in the UK and internationally. The waitlist is open.
Central · Mon, Wed · Beginners
A Masters aquatics club for adults 18 and over, founded in 1992 and the largest of its five branches with over 300 London members. Four coached swim squads share an August 2026 timetable across nine pools, with water polo (London Orca), artistic swimming (the Angels) and the Seahorses trans and non-binary swim alongside. The London swim training and lessons waitlists have been closed since March 2026.
East · Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun · Beginners
Out To Swim's trans and non-binary group, run through the London Orca water polo team: a £5 swim on the second Sunday of every month at Pancras Square Leisure with Maz, a trans coach from Out To Swim, and a first-Monday session at the Oasis being trialled alongside the trans and non-binary water polo. 18 and over, and you need to manage one or two lengths.
North · Sun, Mon · Beginners
New clubs, changed training nights, and the occasional weekend. No more than that.
A weekend away with a group of gay men, and nothing to prove.