I’m gonna have some extended downtime in HK next weekend. Staying at the Sheraton in Kowloon…pretty good fitness center (including Spin bikes, so i can get some decent rides in) but the pool, IIRC, is short (maybe 20m) and outside (and often closed at this time of year).
Anyone know of any public options I can get into over the weekend? I’ve invested a lot of time in my swim this fall / early winter, but I seem to quickly lose those gains if I take any kind of extended time off (read a week or so). As it is, I’m gonna be w/o a pool for most of next week and the week after.
Kowloon Park swimming pool is a 50m long public pool (indoor), pretty easy to get to from the central city. It has been a while, but I swam there while traveling. Just scope it out online or in person to choose the optimal lap swim hours.
Victoria Park has a nice 50m outdoor pool, but I believe it is closed till around March! I am pretty sure that most of the outdoor public pools will be closed for the winter season but the indoor ones should all be open. Lane swim CAN be a bit dodgy as breast stroke is popular, but as long as you are not bent on a “fixed workout” you should be OK taking your time and swimming around people.
Kowloon Park swimming pool is a 50m long public pool (indoor), pretty easy to get to from the central city. It has been a while, but I swam there while traveling. Just scope it out online or in person to choose the optimal lap swim hours.
Yeah, just found that on a Google search. Looks like it is just down the road from my hotel…easy walk. Wasn’t certain if it was public or not, so I e-mailed them. Based on your post, though, sounds like I should be good to go.
They attached around the heel and under your foot as well.
It does affect your kick but is much better than the around your waist options.
With these being attached around your feet and not your waist it helps you keep your rotation and pull still normal, while unfortunately it does affect your kick.
The ones that attach around the waist affect both your rotation and kick (feet get tangled all too often). You essentially want your hips to be as free as possible since swimming is centered around proper hip rotation.
Like I said, there is no substitute for a pool but this is the best option when stuck without the luxury.
I was just there a couple of weeks ago and there is a YMCA in Kowloon right around the corner from the Sheraton, on Salisbury. It has an indoor pool but I don’t know the specifics.
Select from the dropbox.
Time of the open sessions to the public is also there.
Be advised I would go slightly later in the morning because early morning 6:00-7:00 there is usually quite a few elderly around that do not respect lane rules or do
huge breast stroke kicks.
PM me if you have any questions. (<---- Live in HK)
Thanks, Mr. Pie…no problem going later in the AM. I’m coming out of Shenzhen on the morning of the 17th and literally have nothing on my schedule on the 17th, 18th & 19th. So I’ll either sleep late or go ride the Spin bike at the hotel if jet lag is still messin’ with me. I can hit the pool later in the AM or the afternoon with no issues at all.
Never swam in a 50m pool…looking forward to it.
Next trip I may hit you up for some running tips. I usually just do the fitness center in the hotel or run along the harbor, but it would be nice to mix things up. Until then, I gotta get past all my injuries!!
I travel a lot for my job as well. I tried one of those around the waist belts and I didn’t like it. I just cut the valve out of an inner tube and tied it around my ankle. Comfortable, small, light, cheap and doesn’t absorb water.
although busy, if you hit it off peak, say after 0900, it won’t be too crowded. honestly though, just swim in the lap lane provided or carve yourself out a “lane” on one of the blue lines and you’ll be good. some good diving boards to mess around on too, although they limit you to the 1m springboard…
lot’s of other options including public outdoor heated pools further afield if you want to explore, a couple of indoor 25m public pools (one of them nearby just a little further up in mong kok), and the beaches of course, although the water temp is cooler than normal because we’ve had unusually cool weather since december, that has dropped the sea temp more than normal.
hope that helps, enjoy your stay and try not to breathe too hard while you’re here, the air this time of year is shocking, with many > than high health risk days… http://www.aqhi.gov.hk/en.html
Great, thanks for the info. Looks like Kowloon Park is gonna be the spot. 50m pool and right up the street. Perfect!! Been staying at the Sheraton in HK for years and had no idea there was a good pool that close.
Agreed re: the air…one of the main reasons I usually run in the fitness center when I am there. You can break a tooth if you inhale too deeply. But on the days when it is not too bad, I do like to run outside. Great way to see the area!!
Just a quick bump of the thread to say “Thanks” to everyone for their suggestions. I hit the Kowloon Park pool this afternoon.
First time swimming in a 50m pool and I really enjoyed it. Felt like I could keep a more consistent pace and made longer sets much more tolerable.
HUGE difference than swimming in the States. Now I get what some of our brethren from Down Under have been sying about circle swimming. Nobody even thinks about it…you just do it. In the States, people would want to split the lane or would even wait on the side until a lane opened that they could swim in by themselves. Simply not an option here.
Thanks again…very appreciated. Will definitely plan on hitting it again before I leave, hopefully both tomorrow and Sunday.
