Has anyone been to Iceland and can comment on swimming pools for training around Reykjavik? Laugardalslaug looks like the premier facility with two 50 meter pools plus a water slide, but I see there's at least one other 50 meter pool in the metro area (in Kopavogur). Anyone know of any masters groups?
I was lucky enough to visit Iceland this past fall to research an article on why this country leads the world in life expectancy for men. A lot of reasons, though none of them are overwhelmingly persuasive, but I concluded that Icelandic swimming probably has a lot to do with it.
By Icelandic swimming, I don't mean the kind of swimming most of us here on the USMS forums are used to.
I mean 200-300 meters of leisurely back and forth in one of the country's ubiquitous swimming facilities, followed by 45 minutes plus of hanging out with your friends in the hot tub and sauna.
I think it's the camaraderie and incredibly close social ties that let guys here live longer than most places. Since coming back to the US, I have tried to promote "Icelandic swimming" to my friends here.
To more precisely answer your question, there was a really nice facility close to the university not far from downtown Reykjavik. It was a 25 meter pool, not 50 meters, but there were at least 4-5 hot tubs of different degrees of heat (including one extremely cold Danish plunge ice dip), plus a sauna and a steam room. The water jets in one of the hot tubs was by far the most forceful I have ever experienced.
And though everything (except the steam room and the lockers) is outside, it's open all year long. Check it out! But don't feel obligated to go hog wild with working out. You will be going it alone, I suspect, but the local people will be very welcoming in the hot tubs!
I was lucky enough to visit Iceland this past fall to research an article on why this country leads the world in life expectancy for men. A lot of reasons, though none of them are overwhelmingly persuasive, but I concluded that Icelandic swimming probably has a lot to do with it.
By Icelandic swimming, I don't mean the kind of swimming most of us here on the USMS forums are used to.
I mean 200-300 meters of leisurely back and forth in one of the country's ubiquitous swimming facilities, followed by 45 minutes plus of hanging out with your friends in the hot tub and sauna.
I think it's the camaraderie and incredibly close social ties that let guys here live longer than most places. Since coming back to the US, I have tried to promote "Icelandic swimming" to my friends here.
To more precisely answer your question, there was a really nice facility close to the university not far from downtown Reykjavik. It was a 25 meter pool, not 50 meters, but there were at least 4-5 hot tubs of different degrees of heat (including one extremely cold Danish plunge ice dip), plus a sauna and a steam room. The water jets in one of the hot tubs was by far the most forceful I have ever experienced.
And though everything (except the steam room and the lockers) is outside, it's open all year long. Check it out! But don't feel obligated to go hog wild with working out. You will be going it alone, I suspect, but the local people will be very welcoming in the hot tubs!
