Police Investigate Assault on Woman at Chiswick New Pool
Attacker allegedly angered by being overtaken in swimming lane
Chiswick New Pool. Picture: Lampton Leisure
The police are investigating an alleged attack that took place at Chiswick New Pool this Monday (28 June).
44-year-old sports psychologist Dr Josie Perry was swimming lengths in the pool at the time of the incident.
She said on Twitter, “Attacked in the pool this morning for overtaking a fragile male ego.
“Grabbed my feet and held me underwater. Then starts yelling.
“Lifeguards lovely but of course it is me that has to leave as I can’t risk swimming with an aggressive man far stronger than I.”
Dr Perry uses a float for support when swimming due to a spinal disability and this became detached when she was grabbed while in the middle of a tumble turn. She says she was held under the water by her ankle so firmly that it hurt for some time afterwards.
She is quoted in the Independent newspaper as saying, “He had sprinted after me to get me after tapping my toes at the other of the pool. He told me that’s what he’d done. It gets worse.
“When I finally got some air and came up, he admitted he’d grabbed me as it was the only way to communicate he didn’t like I was overtaking. I felt I had prodded his ego.”
Dr Perry says the lifeguard and duty manager told her that they didn’t think the man was going quickly enough to be in the fast lane.
She added, “He said he would prove it to me. He offered to have a race. He was being very patronising. He kept telling me I was ridiculous.”
Dr Perry was involved in a similar incident five years ago when she says she was kicked in the stomach by a man for swimming too fast.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said, ‘Police received an allegation of assault from a woman relating to an incident at a swimming pool in Chiswick on Monday, 28 June. Enquiries into the circumstances are ongoing.’
Lampton Leisure which manages Chiswick New Pool have been asked for comment.
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July 3, 2021
