Early Morning Swimming Hours For Roosevelt Island's Sportspark Facililty - Opens At 6 AM!

Image of Sportspark Pool From RIOC

Are you an early morning person looking for something different to do on Roosevelt Island while everybody else is sleeping? If so, you might want to check out the Swimming Pool at Sportspark, 250 Main Street just south of the Tennis Bubble, which opens at 6 AM.

The Hours of Operation for Adult and Open Swimming at Roosevelt Island's Sportspark are available below.

NEW HOURS - Open Swim
(all ages allowed)

Monday - Friday
6:00 am-11:00 am
Admission:
$5.00 per Adult (18-64)
$3.00 per Child (4-17)
Seniors FREE
No Charge Infants (3 and under)
All children (4-17) must be accompanied by an adult, with no more than 4 children per 1 adult.
All infants (3 and under) must have one-on-one supervision with a paying adult (18 or older)

Open Swim Times
(all ages allowed)
Thursday 6:00 pm-9:00 pm
Saturday 12:00 pm-3:00 pm
Admission:
$5.00 per Adult (18-64)
$3.00 per Child (4-17)
Seniors FREE
No Charge Infants (3 and under)
All children (4-17) must be accompanied by an adult, with no more than 4 children per 1 adult.
All infants (3 and under) must have one-on-one supervision with a paying adult (18 or older)

Adult Swim Times
(18 and older only please)
Tuesday 6:00 pm-9:00 pm
Saturday 4:00 pm-7:00 pm
Admission:
$5.00 per Adult (18-64)
Seniors FREE

More on Roosevelt Island swimming here.

Swimming is great exercise for people of all ages and physical condition. According to WebMD:

Read More!

... Exercise physiologist Robert A. Robergs says swimming is a good fitness choice for just about everyone, especially those who have physical limitations or who find other forms of exercise painful.

"It is a good, whole-body exercise that has low impact for people with arthritis, musculoskeletal, or weight limitations," says Robergs, director of the exercise physiology laboratories at The University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

Water's buoyancy accommodates the unfit as well as the fit. Water cushions stiff joints or fragile bones that might be injured by the impact of land exercises. When immersed to the waist, your body bears just 50% of its weight; immersed to the chest, it's 25%-35%; and to the neck, 10%....

And:

...Not only is swimming easy on the body, it's a great way to get fit, according to Tay Stratton, head swim coach at the Little Rock Athletic Club.

Swimming recruits all the major muscle groups, including the shoulders, back, abdominals, legs, hips, and glutes, she says. And because water affords 12 times the resistance as air in every direction, it really helps to build strength, she says.

"It's cardiovascular and strengthening at the same time, and not many workouts have that," says Stratton.

But can swimming help you lose weight?

There are some questions about how efficiently swimming burns calories, says Robergs.

"Research done on swimming showed that weight loss seemed more difficult," he says. "The theory is that the water submersion initiates a complex [nerve pathway] to lower metabolic rate." And with a lower metabolic rate, the body uses fewer calories to maintain normal function.

While Robergs says these explanations need further research, Stratton says swimming can be a boon for weight loss -- if you follow the same principles as with any other exercise, and challenge yourself.

For weight loss, Stratton recommends interval training, in which you push yourself hard for short spurts, and then drop back to a less-intense level of exercise.

"If you don't do interval training, it's just as if you're doing a slow walk," Stratton says...

Let's get into the POOL!