Fancy club with midtown Gloom. Definitely a numbers pool.
Humm, so, this will be brief, I really can’t say I enjoyed this one! The club is as central midtown Manhattan as you’ll get, the pool is sandwiched right between two major banks … and everything about this place screams banker!
Find the pool, down through a glass-covered escalator, pay my $30 guest pass entry and we’re in… I’m pretty sure this is the first pool on the list (in the world?) with a shoe-shine and a leather sofa seating area in the changing rooms? Find my guest locker, seems I’ve been allocated the worlds thinnest yet tallest locker! Follow corridors past steam rooms and saunas to the pool deck.
Prompted by the lifeguard, I pull on a ‘lost and found’ swim cap as per pool policy and jump in. Water is freezing, perfect (especially with a cap). Split the lane with another swimmer and make a start… I can only describe the water as milky! Visibility is awful, less than a yard, made worse by my selection of dark goggles! After mistiming several turns, pull up after 150 yards to clear the goggles, certainly not a relaxing swim! Decide to get the distance done as quickly as possible.
Reach the minimum required 1,200-yard mark, not happy, mistimed so many turns, either the wall appears suddenly out of the gloom or I’m stretching to get a toe on the wall to push off! Really can’t explain why I end up doing another 300-yards but eventually round out a 1,500-yard swim. Skip the spa pool and sauna, off to hunt down my allocated ‘guest locker’ in the locker maze.
Swim Stats
- Length: 1500 yards total swim
- 1:26 pace / 100y
- Garmin Swim Watch
Review
(30/100)
With central midtown space being a premium they've done well to accommodate a 25-yard pool, but situated along an awkward chain of corridors and stairways and with no natural light, the pool feels enclosed. The water, while clean, is cloudy, what have they put in there? The gym looked well-stocked, so the $30 guest pass is probably worth it if you use the other services.
Pool Details
- Length: 25 yards
- 4-lane pool
- Indoor
Athletic & Swim Club at Equitable Center
787 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY, USA
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