swimming in the slope?

findcate · March 2006

Hi, I'm new around here & trying to find a pool for my regular lap swims. I'm trying to stay within a short walk, I'm closer to flatbush & the park in park slope. Does anyone have any thoughts about Eastern, the Y (which is a longer walk for me), or Berkeley-Carroll, in terms of temperature, crowd, accessibility/hours, cleanliness/upkeep, chlorine, overall aesthetics, or any other minutiae which you feel make for good lap swimming? Thanks for your thoughts!

jayce · March 2006

Subject: Re: swimming in the slope?

findcate wrote: Hi, I'm new around here & trying to find a pool for my regular lap swims. I'm trying to stay within a short walk, I'm closer to flatbush & the park in park slope. Does anyone have any thoughts about Eastern, the Y (which is a longer walk for me), or Berkeley-Carroll, in terms of temperature, crowd, accessibility/hours, cleanliness/upkeep, chlorine, overall aesthetics, or any other minutiae which you feel make for good lap swimming? Thanks for your thoughts!

I swim at both the Y and at Berkeley Carroll school. (Don't ask. its a long story).

the Y... I go in the morning and its usually crowded. 4 to a lane crowded. I hear the evenings are worse. The lanes are short-- only 60 feet (so 18.29Meters), and the pool itself is a little old. But the temperature is nice. Not too cold, not too warm. Overall I would say its good. Its where I do most of my swims, but sometimes the shorter and narrower lanes aren't fun.

Berkeley Carroll- I go in the evening for a class that follows the lap swims. It never appears too crowded during the evening swims, but the water is COLD COLD COLD. The pool is bigger... still only 4 lanes, but much wider. Its newer, its cleaner. Its a 50M length, I believe, so you can stretch out more. The kicker there... besides the pool being so cold is that the locker rooms are terrible. They are small. There are almost no benches. Nothing to use to dry your suit before you take it home (the Y has the spinner thing and much better lockerrooms). So that part is always not fun... you are literally on top of people in the locker room.

Hope that helps.

pitu · March 2006

Subject: Re: swimming in the slope?

findcate wrote: in terms of temperature, crowd, accessibility/hours, cleanliness/upkeep, chlorine, overall aesthetics, or any other minutiae which you feel make for good lap swimming?

I went to Eastern for years. Old and tiled, I like the aesthetics. And you can see the Statue of Liberty from the window - pool's on the 7th floor which I always thought was extremely cool. Except it's next to a construction site now, so don't buy in for the view.

It's small - 25 yards - and four lanes. It can get crowded, totally depends on your sked. They have a lower membership fee if you only go before 6pm - so if you work nights and can swim at 10am, you're golden.

They have fast and slow lap lanes, and two lanes for solo laps that you sign up for, in 20 minute shifts.

It's clean, nice enough lockers, showers, suit spinner, steam rooms and a sauna. Not excessive chlorination.
The pool is too warm on days that have a senior citizen's water aerobics class, but hey, I like those old jazzercizers.

In the summer, the free city pools rock.
Red Hook and Sunset Park both have HUGE pools...big enough so you can share it with a million kids and still do laps. July and August only.

Jayce
Is that the Y on 9th St or Atlantic/3rd Ave? I've never been to either...
but I think we've just worked up a definitive swim posting.

jayce · March 2006

Subject: Re: swimming in the slope?

pitu wrote:
Jayce
Is that the Y on 9th St or Atlantic/3rd Ave? I've never been to either...
but I think we've just worked up a definitive swim posting.

its the one on 9th. They are apparently renovating the pool this year... which I believe means making a new one, but I think its going to be a while. From what I hear the new one, the Dodge Y, is the full on Olympic length one, but its a bit of a trek for PSers.

pitu · March 2006

Subject: Re: swimming in the slope?

jayce wrote:
From what I hear the new one, the Dodge Y, is the full on Olympic length one, but its a bit of a trek for PSers.

Dodge Y?
Maybe I'm being a bit thick, but which one is that?

jayce · March 2006

Subject: Re: swimming in the slope?

pitu wrote:
Dodge Y?
Maybe I'm being a bit thick, but which one is that?

its the one on Atlantic.
you aren't thick, darlin.

ic96 · March 2006

if you take the F train it's actually not too bad.

findcate · March 2006

Subject: swimming details

Thanks Jayce & Pitu, those are exactly the kinds of details i was hoping for...the inside scoop. guess i've narrowed it to berkeley carroll or eastern. there are things that sound good about both, although i'm not a big fan of cold water, the initial plunge is tough.

Pitu, I guess it would really depend on when you go, but is it hard to get the 20' slots at eastern?

the dodge Y sounds very cool indeed, hopefully they'll do something like that at 9th st.

jayce · March 2006

Subject: Re: swimming details

findcate wrote: although i'm not a big fan of cold water, the initial plunge is tough.

the dodge Y sounds very cool indeed, hopefully they'll do something like that at 9th st.

it sure gets you swimming fast, I'll tell you that much. But if I didn't have a coach, I don't know if I'd be as inclined to "take the plunge." hahaha. I'd love it if 9th street went the route of Dodge, but for the life of me I can't imagine where they would put an Olympic length pool there. There really doesn't seem to be much room to expand.

Might be worth it to try all 3 out at the time you would normally want to go and just see how crowded it is. The "feel" test might help. For me, I'd hate to be stuck in a 20 min slot (I'm training for a triathlon, so my swim time is key for me), and then have to sit there and wait for it. So thats why I went with the Y. But there really is something to checking a facility out when you actually plan on using it.

just an idea.

anonymous · March 2006

I also swim at the 9th St Y. I agree that it's is pretty busy in the evening. It can be bad in the morning but not always. If you swim in the off peak times it can be pretty empty. The weekends are great I often swim Sunday evenings and I pretty much have the place to myself.

The real problem is that the ventilation is inferior. So it can feel really clorinie. But they are building a new bigger pool and things shoudl be better. Of course that is years away.

Joyce

pitu · March 2006

Subject: Re: swimming details

findcate wrote: is it hard to get the 20' slots at eastern?

again, totally depends on the time
you ask the lifeguard when you go in - if there was a 20 mins or less, I'd usually wait. I really like having my own lane, and the 20 minute limitation made me swim harder for that time.
And of course you can duck into a group lane afterwards to keep swimming.
The system regulates itself since hardly anybody would wait an hour just to swim alone...

There's a small sauna overlooking the pool where you can stretch while you wait for your lane (or read the paper...). Also exercise mats on the deck so you *could* be productive with your time if you had any discipline. Me, not so much.

Anyone go to the Dodge Y? I love big pools. Is it crowded?

homeowner · March 2006

I've got a secret. The bedford Y in Bed-Stuy also has a 25 yard four lane swimming pool. I used to swim there a lot a few years ago and it was always empty during the free swim time. The locker rooms were pretty bad, but the water was warm and the lifeguards always seemed happy to see me. They're in the midst of doing some construction which includes new locker rooms, so I'm not sure what kind of access the pool has now, but if you'd like to have a pool to yourself and don't mind traveling a bit, you should give them a call.

swimming in the slope?

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