Training in Europe (Munich, Zurich, Paris)

Hi Malik,

I will do Ironman Zurich in July this year so I was curious to see if swimming in the Zurichsee is possible or not, so I attempted to find out. First of all, here is a list of all the swimmingpools in the Zurich area, with a nice handy map:

https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/ssd/de/index/sport/schwimmen.html

A "Hallenbad" is a covered pool, and a "freibad" is an open air pool and will probably open around the time you plan to visit Europe, in May. Specifically Mythenquai, which is very close to the Landiwiese in Zurich where the Ironman swim starts, that pool opens om May 9, as do most open pools in kanton Zurich. I am sure that is somewhat subject to weather conditions though. Each "bad" has some info though, so check that out.

From what I can gather, from unofficial sources, is that you are generally allowed to swim in the lake except in certain places where there are signs posted. I might be able to get some of my friends to inform about the possiblities in the lake, but they're not triathletes so I doubt they venture outside of the freibäder. A good guess might be to contact the Ironman Switzerland organization and ask them, I am sure they know as lots of athletes will want to pre-swim the course (I will too most likely). In fact, I might contact them myself. If I found out anything else I will let you know. And if you find out some more things, let me know too please

Edit: the Mythenquai suggestion I gave is actually a strandbad, which is basically a beach It says there is a 250m wide beach, so if anything you could swim parallel to shore for 250m and you would most likely be safe from watercraft. Here's the specific site: https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/ssd/de/index/sport/schwimmen/sommerbaed...

Edited by Snaaijer 2015-02-10 10:35 AM

In Munich there is a 50m pool called DanteBad, not far from the Olympic pool. IMO it's nicer and more convenient. English Gardens are a good place to run. Middle of the day and after 8:30PM were away best swim times for me.

In Paris, I suggest you look at going to a gym with spin bikes. Much easier to find. For pools take a look at this.
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=3708068;sb=post...
Swimming in Paris was always difficult. They swim like they drive :-)




Edited by marcag 2015-02-10 12:17 PM

Yes it is ok to swim in the lake at Zurich ... It's a great bit of open water

There are many areas around the shores where you will see plenty of people in the water 

The water will still be a little chilly in may ... so you may want to use a wetsuit 

Edited by WildWill 2015-02-12 5:41 AM