Ośrodek Grzybowska

I dropped in to swim laps at 10 AM on a Wednesday in October. It's a lovely five-lane pool. Three lanes were empty. It was immaculate. Bring a swim cap. Highly recommend.

On entering this modern facility, call first at the cloakroom directly to the right of the cashier and deposit your overcoat and outdoor shoes. Pay the cashier (you will be asked whether you want to pay up front for either one or two hours) and receive in return a locker key on a chipped wristband. Use the chipped wristband to release the turnstile, find your locker, get changed, and you’re ready to go. The staff had no English (or French or German), but kindly provided me with a male attendant to walk me through the process. On leaving, hand the chipped wristband to the cashier who will check whether you’ve exceeded the time for which you’ve paid upfront (in which case you’ll be charged for the balance) and get the cloakroom attendant to return your deposited stuff.

On my early morning visits, the pool was fully laned. Although there was no speed differentiation, there were so few swimmers (I never than more than one other person sharing a lane with me) that this didn’t present a problem. The use of swimming caps and competition swimwear appeared to be the norm, if not obligatory, likewise showering with soap before entering the water.

Clean, nice pool. No clock or flags, though. Kids’ team swims during lunch leaving only one lane for laps; it got a bit crowded…

Excellent pool. Very clean. Plenty of open lanes weekday mornings and weekends. The staff speak no English, but the system is easy to figure out. Be sure you bring a cap and “indoor” flip flops (so don’t wear them to the pool from the outside - that rule applies to all pools in Poland).