Image: Jarmo Nuotio / Yle

A teenage male asylum-seeker from a nearby housing centre caused alarm in the Vesi-Jatuli swimming pool in Haukipudas on Thursday when he entered the women's shower section of the facility.

The boy and his friends were removed from the premises, and on Saturday all the unit's 16-17-year-old boys received a two-week ban from entering the swimming pool.

Regional paper Kaleva quotes Oulu's Sports Department's head of Guided Exercise, Marko Savolainen, as calling the boy's behaviour "outrageous". He says the incident also confused the pool staff.

A city employee was sent to discuss the incident with the teens at the housing unit and to explain the gravity of the situation.

Culture bumps

The young man in question had been given instructions on how to behave in a public swimming pool and was forbidden to enter off-limits areas. The boy entered the women's shower room despite these admonishments.

Another phenomenon that pool employees have noticed is the tendency of teens to move in larger groups and observe the people swimming in the tracks. Savolainen said earlier this week that behaviour like this is also swiftly dealt with by staff members.

"When you come to a swimming pool in Finland, you swim. It isn't a place to ogle the other customers," Savolainen said.

The teens, for their part, have wondered at the seriousness and strenuousness that Finns bring to paddling in the water.