Genius Side Hustle Americans Are Using to Earn Up to £155K — and Why Britons With Pools Should Pay Attention

An Oregon man earned £155,000 ($200,000) in just two years by doing little more than opening his back gate to paying guests, and thousands of American homeowners are now copying his side hustle. The money comes from Swimply, a fast‑growing peer‑to‑peer marketplace that lets people rent out their private pools by the hour and has already attracted more than £38.5 million ($50 million) in funding and over 4 million bookings across the US, Canada and Australia.

A British equivalent, Swimple, is already live in the UK and taking listings from local owners, meaning Britons with back‑garden pools may be sitting on an income stream they have yet to tap.

What American Hosts Are Actually Earning

The earnings are not theoretical. Jim Battan, a host in Portland, Oregon, earned £155,000 ($200,000) over two years by renting his pool hundreds of times to more than 10,000 guests, making him Swimply's highest earner out of 25,000 pools worldwide. In peak summer, Battan receives more than 25 bookings per week, with around one third being returning customers.

Hosts are earning an average of £3,850 to £7,700 ($5,000 to $10,000) per month, with one host already on track to net £85,000 ($110,000) in a single summer season, according to the platform's own figures. A beta test between September 2024 and May 2025 found nearly 100 hosts earning more than £7,700 ($10,000), with top earners approaching £77,000 ($100,000).

Growth on the platform is accelerating. Swimply's host community more than doubled from 7,000 in 2024 to 15,000 verified pool owners in 2025. Two thirds of hosts are women, many of them stay‑at‑home parents or empty nesters, who reinvest approximately 60 per cent of their Swimply earnings back into their homes and families. The company predicts two million people will use the platform for swims this summer.

Beyond Swimming: How Swimply Has Expanded

Swimply's appeal extends well beyond lap swimming. Bookings regularly include birthday parties, dog parties, music videos, photography shoots, aqua therapy sessions and scientists testing underwater drones, according to co‑founder Asher Weinberger. The platform has broadened its scope to include sport courts, hot tubs, saunas and home gyms in a deliberate push toward year‑round income.

In June 2025, Swimply launched a dedicated pet swim category following a 700 per cent increase in pet‑related bookings in 2024. In November 2025, it added 'man caves' as a rentable option.

For hosts, financial protection is built in. The platform offers liability coverage of up to £770,000 ($1 million) per booking and up to £7,700 ($10,000) in property damage protection. Hosts take home between 70 and 85 per cent of each booking after Swimply's service fee, which covers secure payments, customer support and the platform's guarantee protection. Hourly rates in the US range from approximately £27 to £69 ($35 to $90), depending on location and amenities.

The Legal Risks Every Host Must Understand

The income potential is real. So are the risks.

Rockland County in New York has been issuing subpoenas to Swimply since 2022, seeking names, addresses and transaction records of hosts, citing potential violations of local health codes. Swimply has called it 'a flagrant attempt to disrupt Swimply's business and harass its users'.

Minnesota produced the most consequential ruling. Sean Ryan and Ed Piechowski, hosts of a 40‑foot pool in St Paul, received a state health department letter declaring their backyard was no longer 'a true private residential pool' since it was being advertised to the public, giving them 10 days to comply with public pool construction standards or remove their listing. 'They've been hammering square pegs into round holes,' Piechowski said of the state's regulators.

The state was unmoved. Health Department spokesman Scott Smith stated, 'A homeowner that rents their pool via a sharing economy app has effectively turned their pool into a public pool.' The Minnesota Court of Appeals ultimately agreed, ruling that Swimply rentals qualify as public pools requiring a state licence.

Swimply's legal head Cameron Kilberg called it 'shadow rulemaking', adding: 'Our users have received letters threatening enforcement actions and thousand-dollar fines.'

What It Means For British Pool Owners

Britain has nothing approaching California's pool density. Los Angeles County alone contains an estimated 250,000 swimming pools, with 18 per cent of homes owning one. That scarcity is precisely what gives British pool owners leverage: the market is less saturated, demand for private pool access is genuine and the platforms to monetise it already exist.

Swimple at swimple.co.uk is live on both the Apple App Store and Google Play and is actively listing UK pools. A longer‑established route also exists: SwimWay, a swimming school operating across South West London and Kensington since 2005, partners with private pool owners to provide rental income, with the school managing scheduling, health and safety and maintenance with minimal disruption to the owner.

The American playbook is clear: the earnings are genuine, the regulatory risks are live, and the hosts who prosper are those who check their local planning rules before they list, not after.