Sportfondsenbad Amsterdam-Oost

I swam here from 9 to 10 AM on a Wednesday morning in November, after which a very large aquacize class started. The pool was very crowded. Even the freestyle lane had six or seven swimmers in it. All of the other lanes were extremely slow. Check the lap swim times carefully on the website. They differ by day and are very limited some days.

This facility is clean, bright, and pleasant, with extensive hours for lap swimming. The entrance is through a narrow glass sliding door in an outdoor mall, with a prominent sign above, and then up a flight of stairs.

The pool doesn't have a shallow end; there's a standing ledge along the side, but no way to stand at the ends of the lanes. I didn't see any training equipment (kick boards etc.). Reservations are not required. The water temperature is excellent for lap swimming, around 79º F (26ºC).

At 10:45 on a Thursday morning, the pool was busy but not too crowded, with four lanes available for laps and two reserved for adult lessons/training. (That changed to 5/1 at 11:00.) The lanes had speed designations. I initially shared a lane with one other person (who didn't follow lane etiquette) and, after 15 minutes, had the lane to myself for 30 minutes.

Lockers are €0.20 (nonrefundable), but there's plenty of space to leave items poolside.

The pool was extremely crowded when I was there on a Monday between 5 and 6 PM, and you had to move like a flock. There was no speed gradient across the lanes.

Most lanes had slow swimming, mostly breast stroke. Lane 1 was for faster freestyle swimmers, although with 3-5 swimmers in the lane during the morning swim there isn’t much room for variation from the median pace of about 1:40. But with few choices in the central Amsterdam area, this one clearly beats any of the hotel pools. Access on tram #9 via Praetoriustraat. Shares a building with a very good sports gym, though the businesses are not related.