Vesterbro Svømmehal

This is a nice 25m, public pool for swimming laps. The complex itself felt a little older, but it was nevertheless clean and generally well maintained. Like other pools in Copenhagen, there was no front desk. You just buy your swimming pass from a machine at the entry (credit cards accepted) and get a wristband to wear while you swim. The locker rooms were decent and there are free lockers available (you just put in a PIN code at the machine—no need to bring your own lock). You’re required to shower BEFORE you put on your swimsuit, and everyone seemed to comply.

The pool itself was clean and the water at a great temperature. It wasn’t too busy when I visited in the morning (one or two people per lane) and the other swimmers and staff were friendly and helpful. It's a great place to swim if you’re in the area.

This is a good neighborhood pool. Two lanes are designated for fast swimmers. The water is rather cold. There is an 85ºC (185ºF) sauna in the changing area. Since the last review nothing has changed very much. You can see how hard the water in Copenhagen is: The shower equipment and tiles are completely encrusted with lime.

A modern, well appointed, and well maintained local facility with gender segregated changing facilities. The lockers are electronically controlled and require users to select a 4-digit PIN: watch the video on the facility's website to see how the system works.

At many pools, users are enjoined to shower before entering the water: an injunction that is usually met with cursory compliance, if at all. Things are different at Vesterbro: users comply to the letter! The practice here (on the men's side, at least) is for users, once divested of their street clothes, to proceed completely naked from the locker room to the shower area, carrying their swimming things with them. Wall diagrams in the shower area specify the parts of one's anatomy that are required to be washed with soap, before putting on one's trunks and going forward to the pool itself (liquid soap dispensers are situated beside every shower head).

On my visit (early on a Sunday morning), two lanes in the centre of the pool were roped for lap swimming: neither had more than about four users at any one time. The remainder of the pool - on either side of the roped lap lanes - was available for general use. Kickboards, etc. were freely available. The water quality was outstanding (as it should be, given that users were all well scrubbed before going in). Although the facility was generally very clean and appeared to be well managed, the walls at each of the pool ends were decidedly grubby at the waterline (length-wise, the water level was flush with the pool side). It is to be hoped that someone is soon charged with setting about the grime with a scrubbing brush and washing soda!

I liked the pool a lot - it has two saunas (infrared and regular); it’s very clean; and it has pull buoys, kickboards and fins for public use.