DOGS are back in the swim at historic Saltdean Lido.

The pool is hosting its annual dog swim weekends for the fifth year – and this time they are bigger than ever.

There is an additional weekend and extra sessions to accommodate demand from pooches and their devoted owners.

The action started this weekend with dogs of all shapes, sizes and breeds showing off their moves.

Thousands of pooches are expected in total and due to the high demand, organisers have included a variety of specific sessions.

One of those on Saturday was attended by dozens of golden retrievers from Kent and Sussex Golden Retriever Group.

Yesterday there was a special hour-long quiet session and this will be repeated this coming Sunday at 1.30pm.

On Saturday, the 1pm session will be for small dogs that weigh less than 10kg.

There are four 90-minute sessions on each dog swim day. The timetable for this weekend is: Saturday, September 18 – 9am, 11am, 3pm and 5pm. Sunday, September 19 – 9.30am, 11.30am, 3pm and 5pm.

The following weekend it will be: Saturday, September 25 – 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm and 5pm. Sunday, September 26 – 10am, noon, 2pm and 4pm.

Jules Shepherd, Saltdean Lido Community Interest Company director, said: “We’re thrilled to bits with the launch of our 2021 event. The weather has remained gorgeous for our furry friends and their owners, who have travelled from all over the UK, including Bristol, Cornwall and South Wales. 

“For our first weekend we’ve had 2,000 humans and over 1,700 dogs. 

“This has been a great achievement for all the volunteers who’ve helped make this fundraising event possible. 

“We have two more weekends to go and have few spaces left if anyone wishes to treat their pooch to a swim in our heated pool. Please go to the website for details – https://www.wegottickets.com/dog-swim.

“The pool will then undergo a deep clean as we prepare the pool for a possible Christmas Day Swim. Every single penny raised from this fundraising event will go towards the restoration of the Art Deco building as we begin to bring it back for the community and city next year.” 

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