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25 Jun 2013

Best places to get wet

Swimming pools in Minsk

It is not always possible to get into any of Minsk swimming pools without doing some formalities first. Some of them require medical check to be allowed in, some are only for members. But if you want to do swimming just now there are some options available.  Quite a few swimming pools in Minsk are open for everyone and do not ask papers.

There are certain issues, of course. These swimming pools are pretty busy all the time so you should be prepared to swim along with many other people. Sometimes sessions in the pools are not available, and experience shows that the best time for swimming is lunch time.

You've better not trust the timetables and schedules. It is recommended to call pool's administrators before your arrive. Otherwise your pleasure can be spoilt because of a sudden influx of swimmers or unexpected sanitation day. The temperature of the water is generally normal in all swimming pools.

OK, here is the list.

Swimming pool "Olympus"


Swimming pool Olympus
Swimming pool "Olympus"

Opening hours:  7:00 - 16:00 on weekdays and from 7:00 am to 21.45  at weekends.
Price: 37 500 rubles for 45 minutes.
Size: 25 m, 5 tracks.
Pros: The entrance to the building is next to the exit of the metro. The pool has a whirlpool. The audience is quite nice and not very big.
Cons: The place itself is pretty dark, no hair dryers in the changing rooms. We were not advised to come in mornings before working day, for many of the tracks are occupied by programmers at that time. We were puzzled first but then were told that the software companies are paying for their staff in full so the IT geeks use this opportunity to keep themselves in good shape.
What is more: There is a shop with bathing clothes, a solarium, massage, sauna and gym. An enrolment in a group of synchronised swimming has began.
Web site:    www.dvs.by  
Address:     Yakuba Kolasa, 2  
Phone:       +375 17 331 07 11, +375 17 292 20 61


Sport complex "Olympic" (Palace of Water Sports) 


Palace of Water Sports
Palace of Water Sports

Opening hours: Sunday from 9:00 to 21:45, on the other days from 7:15 to 22:30.
Price: from 32 to 40 000 for 45 minutes.
Size: 50 m, 8 tracks.
Pros: One of the biggest pools in Minsk.
Cons: Sportsmen swim actively on  tracks from side to side, and make huge waves. Huge changing rooms, showers with scary ads "do not wash more than 5 minutes', a hall with a persistent smell of stale socks. Sometimes it all looks like a barracks.
What is more: gym, Finnish and Russian saunas, aerobics, teaching of simplest water jumping, oxygen cocktails.
Address:    Surganova 2a.  
Phone:      +375 17 290 48 26, +375 17 290 48 39


Swimming pool in  FOC Masherov


Swimming pool in  FOC Masherov
Swimming pool in  FOC Masherov

Opening hours: daily from 7:00 to 23:00.
Price: 35 000 rubles for 45 minutes. After lunch - from 60 000 to 75 000 for 1 hour and 15 minutes (sauna included).
Size: 25 m 3 tracks.
Pros: There are large mirrors in frames in a hall and funny hair dryers like the phone. Beautiful people go out of gym. The water is purified with ultraviolet light, but it would be better to add more chlorine!
Cons: The  guys were the scariest ones we have ever seen in and there are a lot of them here. It is crowded and smelly in saunas, and when someone opens the door of the main hall one can see naked people in the shower near the pool. Promised music and lights have never came. We visited a cafe "a-la at factory" where the red-faced peasant-looking people had been drinking beer and brandy.
What is more: Gym, games room, spa, massage, aerobics and dance, it is written on their website that somewhere there must be a store of confiscated goods.
Web site:   www.focsport.com  
Address:    Pobediteley, 23   
Phone:    +375 17 226 68 66, +375 17 226 95 66, +375 29 120 68 66



FOC "Serebryanka"


Swimming pool in FOC "Serebryanka"
Swimming pool in FOC "Serebryanka"

Opening hours: from 6:45 to 23:00 on weekdays.
Price: 45 000. for 1 hour.
Size: 25 m, 5 tracks.
Pros: Secure parking. The complex is fairly new, big and with good services. There are not many of swimmers. In the end there is a "paradise" area with aquariums, through out which one can see the corridors and gym.
Cons: There's still alive a tradition of the "observer" in the changing rooms where a special person sitting at the table, her comments are irritating and she even tries to pick up the key, when you close the locker. We did not give a key and rightly so because on our return it was detected a table without any observer, but with an exhibition of all the keys handed over.
What is more: There are a few worth tennis tables right in the lobby. There is everything a person might need: gym, aerobics and spa, manicure finishing and dry cleaning. Administrators even have a group at Vkontakte and come up with promotions and discounts.
Web site:  www.fs.by 
Address:    Prospect Rokossovskogo 44. 
Phone:       +375 17 248 70 57


Wellness Centre Hong-Gia



Wellness Centre Hong-Gia
Wellness Centre Hong-Gia

Opening hours: weekdays from 10:00 to 22:00, weekends - from 13:00 to 22:30.
Price: 75 000 rubles for 1.5 hours.
Size: 15 x 5 meters, without separation on the track.
Pros: There are very few people, a comfortable sauna.
Cons: The pool here is just for splashing which is perfect for families with children, but virtually useless for swimmers. The administrator is a blond girl, having no idea about the words "hello" and "goodbye", and the lobby and changing rooms are cramped - you can bump heads with other guests of the wellness centre.
What is more: dancing, yoga, kung fu, pilates, aerobics, water aerobics (including groups for pregnant women).
Web site:   www.hong-gia.by
Address:    Starinovskaya, 29 (metro "Uruchcha")  
Phone:    +375 17 266 07 66, +375 44 518 00 00, +375 33 651 85 18


Sport and Recreation Center


Sport and Recreation Center
Sport and Recreation Center

Opening hours: 9:00 - 22:30.
Price: from 66 000 rubles for  2.5 hours (morning sessions for men and women are separated) up to 97,000 for 2 hours (in the evening is a general session).
Size: round pool with a diameter of 30 m
Pros: The only outdoor pool in Minsk with natural mineral water from the well. Over the warm water rises a vapour, the sun breaks through it. It makes just amazing feeling in the center of the city. Turnstiles and lockers are electronic, opens with a beautiful wristband with a chip. And no advertising of sushi!
Cons: When the indoor pool is not working there will be a lot of people in the open one. Corridor leading from the main rooms to the pool is a little unpleasant, but still no need to go out on open air if not necessary. Near teh center there is a freestyle complex has been building.
That there are jacuzzi, waterfall, whirlpool, Russian and Finnish sauna, cafe.
Web site:   www.dvs.by
Addrtess:  Surganova 2a (near Botanical Garden).  
Phone:   +375 17 290 48 26, +375 17 290 48 43, +375 17 290 48 44


Laznya


Swimming pool in Laznya
Swimming pool in Laznya


Opening hours: Monday - Friday from 15:00 to 23:00, weekends from 8:00 to 23:00.
Price: at daytime on weekdays, you will pay 56,000 rubles for two hours, there is a men's and women's section, there are general sessions, you can take a bath for a group.
Size: 25 m 3 pathways.
Pros: the cleanest sauna amiong all, we have seen in the center of Minsk. Most of all we liked are  the marble benches and fresh wood in the sauna. The pool is also clean, pleasant and it is not crowded. The changing rooms is light and comfortable, and the biggest lockers that we have ever seen. Thank God, too, without food advertising.
Cons: In the evening we did not manage to get into the pool and Lazne because of the queue. To get through to administrator you have to be considerably patient. The windows are not always curtained, but the residents of opposite houses probably have already lost interest. And the parking is always fully packed.
What is more: solarium, gym, billiards, water aerobics.
Web site:    www.gbm.by  
Address:     Marevskaya, 5 (near the cinema Mir").  
Phone:        +375 17 294 01 73, +375 17 294 24 24

Water-training complex


Swimming pool in water-training complex
Swimming pool in water-training complex


Opening hours: Monday - Saturday from 6:45 to 21:30 and Sunday from 8:00 to 20:00.
Price: 32 000 rubles for 45 minutes.
Size: 50 m, 8 tracks.
Pros: the best pool for swimming lovers. It is  roomy, just a few people. The water is cleaner and safer. The kindness of local assistants is highly praised our readers.
Cons: it is impossible to get into the pool in the evenings without being a member. Not always possible during the day. So it's best to call to find out if there are places, and to come at least 15 minutes before the start of the session.
What is more: the jumping pool, gym, coffee shop.
Web site:    www.minsksport.by  
Address:     Str. Heroes of the 120th Division, 3 (metro station "Uruchcha") 
Phone:       +375 29 266 63 58


By CityDog.by

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