Van Eyck Swimming Pool — Local services in Ghent

I have swum here multiple times. Its a nice clean pool with the bare basic facilities, and in a good location. Opening hours during the day could be more, but in the evening it is fairly descent. Beware that opening hours do not always match Google. There is no sports clock here to do any real training. You can go to the toilet privately but the showers are all out in the open, which can be uncomfortable. Staff are friendly, and the price is cheap if you are a Gent resident.

It is difficult to exercise here for the following reasons: despite the pool having a policy to stay to the right of the lane so multiple swimmers can safely swim at the one time, the pool does in no way enforce this. Therefore despite the large amount of people in the pool, you have half the people following the rule and the other people swiming up and down in a straight line, taking a lane to themselves where 4 people could be swimming there. This causes collisions. This is even more of a problem when two friends, young and old, swim side by side. there are no lane ropes (even just two would help). Some people swim everywhere and others on their back, again causing collisions. Lane ropes would help crowd control a great deal. Even a 'fast lane' or two would allow the people who want to swim foe exercise to do so, and let people who want to play, play. during the evening and weekends, groups of friends will stand at the end of the pool talking (half an hour the other night), which blocks people from finishing in the last 5 metres. They therefore finish and push off from the next lane over back into their original lane, again causing collisions with the people swimming in the 'borrowed' lane. There is a small pool next to the large one where people can stand and talk without affecting those there to swim.

I spend most of my time concentrating on not hitting anyone, rather than how im swimming. Many others have the same problem.

Collisions and accidents could cause serious issues. There is always a life guard or two there, but they never say anything. For the sake of order and preventing injury or problems, I would like to ask management why is...

I was worried to swim here after reading some of the reviews. I came on a Monday at 12:45, so halfway through the second slot on that day. It was a good time because the pool was already very busy, but most swimmers were close to finishing their laps and in the end I had a lane to myself. So yes, it gets very busy, but you can work around it. The cleanliness is like most public pools. The lady’s changing rooms are downstairs. It was hard to find a free individual one, there are only very few, less than 10. So I changed in a common one (at the end of the corridor). I packed everything in my bag and then there are lockers at the other end of the building where you can lock everything using a 50 Cent or 1 Euro coin. To get to the lockers (and to the main pool area) you have to go through one of the individual changing rooms into the main pool area. I’m not aware how to get there if they are all locked, which was initially the case when I arrived. As I was aware of the shower situation, I just showered before and after the swim, but did not bother to wash my hair properly. I did that at home. However, I saw a lady bring her shower gel and shampoo to the shower that is in the...

Regrettably super uncomfortable! The opening hours are very restricted (and vary every day), so that it is either pretty full (up to 10 people in every lane, everyone swimming at randomly different speeds) – or it is closed. There are no proper showers (you just can quickly rinse yourself in an area next to the pool inside the swimming hall), and the changing area consists of small and dark cabins (you have then to take with you all your belongings to the pool inside the main hall and find a locker). The building is architecturally speaking very pretty and the quality of the water is good. But it is such a pity that there are so little (virtually none) opportunities to have a comfortable swimming...