Swimming in Paris?

Swimspire, that sounds so in line with my experience. It's bizarre: the French swimmers (at least the ones I encountered, not to generalize too much) are indifferent to other swimmers, yet hypersensitive about their territory. I was reprimanded for coming into physical contact with someone. "You must not touch the other swimmers." This, in a constant state of of playing aquatic chicken. What do they expect?

Red60, I was reliving my experiences through your description of the Piscine Pontoise...shudder. During my one and only swim in that pool, I was actually chased down by the macho of the 'fast lane' when I dared to do a flipturn as he was lounging at the wall, taking up the entire space. He tried to grab my ankle and force me to stop so he could scream at me, but when I refused to stop he swam furiously after me in a rage. Although I was faster than he was, I was worried about what would happen when I reached the other end of the pool, so I stopped mid-swim and tried to duck under the lane lines to get out of the pool as he again tried to grab me. My dad jumped onto the pool deck from the lower balcony where he was standing and called the lifeguard for help!! I never went back there again....Oh, the stories from those pools!!

Sounds interesting. My impression had been that the French were more "civil" :cool:. For example, once I was watching some event like a parade on the street of Paris among the crowds on a light rainy day. I was holding an umbrella, and the umbrella got too close to someone without umbrella, about to touch her but didn't, and she gave me a stare. Similar reaction when walking fast in the metro and nearly bumped into someone.

this thread is making me laugh and scaring me at the same time. I will be in Paris for business for a week (16th arr), was looking for a place to train for an upcoming event. Most of the places around there are closed in august, one has been closed since 2013 and will reopen 2018. Interesting. One potential is Piscine Henry de Montherlant, any reviews on that one? The other potential pools were Piscine Blomet and Piscine Suzanne-Belioux. But I've read consistent reviews saying that they are overcrowded. Considering that the last post was in 2013, I'm hoping things might have changed. Perhaps they have adopted a different etiquette?

Hi ssumargo, exciting news that you'll be in Paris! The swimming scene is slightly tricky with Paris public pools. They are only open certain hours during the day and that means that everyone will try to crowd in at the same time. You're going to be hard-pressed to find a pool that is not crowded during public hours, unfortunately. I would say Berlioux and Blomet are probably your best bet. Blomet is a 50 meter pool so that tends to make a crowded lane feel slightly less so. Berlioux has a designated "fast" lane, which is slightly better for stronger swimmers. I would avoid Berlioux late at night, though, as the area can get a little sketchy. Have you checked out swimmersguide.com? Also, this is a fairly accurate assessment of the Parisian pool situation: www.pret-a-voyager.com/.../ Good luck and have a great time in Paris!

Also, this is a fairly accurate assessment of the Parisian pool situation Long time lurker just joined up specifically to give a +1 to that statement. It's a very different world to what we experience in the US

Also, this is a fairly accurate assessment of the Parisian pool situation: www.pret-a-voyager.com/.../ I just read it. Interesting. My question, so where do the more serious French swimmers swim? Surely they exist? (not the pros who have their own team and practice pools)

Thanks Julia! Have you been to Piscine Blomet? If so, do you remember what the locker rooms are like over there? I have very limited french and I don't want to get yelled at in french...

ddl, most serious swimmers will join a team in order to be able to swim more competitively. Teams reserve lanes at the pool, generally in the evenings, and there are a variety of levels of competition depending upon the team. You can often see what teams practice at the pools you visit and if they have a Masters team, you can ask the coach if you can join in. They will often welcome guest swimmers (although no guarantees). ssumargo, I swam regularly at Piscine Blomet for several years! They have separate showers for men and women downstairs at the pool level. The "cabines" (changing rooms) are co-ed, but they are individual rooms for one person, and they are lined up in the upstairs portion of the building around the pool and in the front hallway. Here are some photos of the pool: www.nageurs.com/.../photos

Went to Piscine Blomet this morning. All the comments are absolutely on point. It's absolute craziness. They have so many signs and rules before you get to the pool, why not enforce some "rules" as well for the pool itself? At my masters class, I am in one of the "slow" lanes. At my gym in NY, I am one of the faster women, but there are decent male swimmers there. In this Paris pool, I felt like an Olympic swimmer. At some point, I was able to swim the middle, while sculling and overtake lots of people. It does boost up my ego.