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January 17, 2004
San Francisco - Places to Swim
If you are a swimmer, it's hard to find good pools for lap swimming. The lanes are often too narrow, the water too warm, and lap swim times too few, especially in the summer. Fortunately for San Francisco, we have the USF Koret Center, at the corner of Turk and Stanyan (enter from garage on Turk). The center is part of the University of San Francisco, a private Catholic university. Anyone can use Koret by buying a 15-use public pass for $75. Drop-in fees are $15. The pool is an Olympic sized 50 meters long by 25 yards wide. The temperature is cool, I forget the actual degree, but it's perfect for lap swimming. You don't get overheated.
Another good place for workouts in the city is the St. Ignatious High School pool out in the Sunset district. Fog City Masters has its workouts there. That pool is usually even cooler than Koret. There is a $6 drop-in fee.
The new Jewish Community Center (the JCC) at California and Presidio has a pool with a masters program which costs $45 for 10 visits. Their health center, like that of University of San Francisco, is also called the Koret Center.
If you are downtown, the closest public pool is the Embarcadero YMCA which has a very open schedule for lap swimming.
From April through October the San Francisco Tri Club hosts swims every Thursday night at 6:00pm in Aquatic Park. Swimmers get in through the South End Rowing Club. Members of SERC and the Dolphin club swim in the Bay all year round. But the water temperature is only bearable without a wetsuit for most of us in the summer and early fall. By September the water is up to 60 or 62°F. The clubs offer access to the public for a drop-in fee on alternating days.
Links:
Rinconada Pool in Palo Alto
USF Koret Center
Fog City Masters at St. Ignatius
South End Rowing Club
the Dolphin club
Posted by elise on January 17, 2004 to Fun things to do, San Francisco
| Comments (2)
Comments
Elise - you are a lifesaver for posting this. I was just trolling through search engines looking for a list just like this, and it is pretty funny that I found it on your site - which i read all the time anyway. Due to a foot problem, it is being recommended that I swim rather than run, so I am going to check out Koret center. Thanks!
Posted by: jen at August 2, 2004 2:13 PM
Do you know any places in the city (preferably around the sunset/ richmond area) that has a women's only opportunity for lap swimming. Oh, and by the way, the pool at JCC has recently been on a downward spiral. I swam there for over a year. At first it was great but it gradually got more and more crowded. Now it is to the point that in order to swim laps you have to swim circles with four people. It is also unorganized so you may end up swimming in a lane with a beginner in front of you and an olympian behind you. You can picture what would happen.
Posted by: Asala at March 27, 2006 8:13 AM
