I regularly go there for swimming, mostly in the evening on weekdays, around 20:30 till closing at 22:00. Not perfect, but ok.
It’s a bit more crowded in summer than in winter, but I think only one time I was seriously feeling too crowded.
They have one lane reserved for really fast swimmers, and in the other lanes you just chose one with people roughly your speed. Maybe 4-8 people per 50m lane normally. Most annoying is if people stand at the ends of a lane, which happens once in a while.
How about the swimming pool in the NTU Education sports center? Is it any better/worse than the one in Daan?
Please note that my only rating system is based on attendance, with fewer people = better. If the NTU’s swimming pool had horse turds floating around and 0 people, I’d go there and just dive under the turdy water surface.
Idk about other sports centers. But personally I hate the daan sports center. The gym is awful already enough without all the people in my way that should probably just eat more. The basketball gym never has the hoops down and is always used for badminton 羽毛球 I think they make you pay to rent the basketball hoops which is some bullshit. How is it the community gym if I cant play basketball.
Also the “trainers” in the gym are dumbasses. One came and told me I can’t put on that much weight to squat. Because it’s dangerous and he didn’t think I could safely do it or something. And it wasn’t even that much like i was doing some crazy power lifting stuff.
Went a couple of times to the University of Education swimming pool.
Pros:
They open extremely early, 5.30am
When I go there (6.30 to 8.30, depending on traffic) there are a few people but it’s easy to swim around
Due to the limited amount of people, there’s no need to wait in line to use one of the showers
Comfortable environment, though I wish the water was a bit colder
There’s a chillout area next to the main swimming pool, I don’t use it but many people seem to enjoy it
Cons:
I can see it being crowded during the day, and that could be a problem both for swimming and having a shower afterward. I passed by there in the early afternoon to get some stuff and it looked quite packed
Water is only 1.4m deep, I wish some lanes were 2m+ to keep all the ahma/abei away
No cute girls in swimming suits, feelsbadman
The area to change clothes is really tiny
All in all, since I only care about the swimming part, I enjoy that swimming pool. Maybe next month I’ll try Daan as well, but last time I checked the attendance counter in the early morning there was already an upsetting amount of people.
Checked Taipei Daan Sports Center, 臺北大安運動中心
* 1:00 on a weekday afternoon, gym not crowded, the pool area fairly to very crowded mostly older crowd
* Big 4 story building with pools and coed spa facilities
* Many things are free
* Lots of aerobic classes, spinning, dance, martial arts, etc. classes, can reserve the rooms for private activities
* Table tennis, 2 squash courts, golf driving range rooftop, 6 pool tables, 10 badminton courts, indoor rollerblading area
* Gym is NT$50 per hour, must have towel or can buy one for Nt$25, gym has lots of aerobic equipment and small weight lifting area, TVs, reasonable air conditioning
* Pool is not free
* Free filtered water, pay lockers, showers
* Weight scales, body mass measurement machines, blood pressure machine all free
* Ubike station next to front door
* At least during my first visit, no gay men trying to make eye contact which is a good thing for me
* First time I’ve seen a whey protein dispensing machine, some drinks are 20-plus grams of protein and can include creatine