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The Quiet Rituals of Swedish Swimming Pools
A deep dive into cultural customs
Upon entering an indoor swimming pool in Sweden, you will meet a few red-eyed children with slightly damp hair ready to head home. Along with you, some sportive-looking individuals will walk into the building with an expression of serenity and dedication.
Depending on your arrival time and day, the demographic may change from more working individuals and seniors (at 7 AM) to school children (in the afternoon), people taking swimming classes or training for competitions (in the evening), to families with kids (on weekends).
If you haven’t acquired a swimming pass with several entries, now’s the time to greet the cashier and pay the entry fee by card or the Swedish mobile app Swish. Don’t even try to use cash — most Swedes haven’t touched banknotes or coins in months. This is not Germany!
Once your entry pass is acquired, you need to walk through a turnstile and then along a long corridor. You will usually (though not always) end up in an area with a rack full of the favored shoes of the season and more pairs spread all over the floor. Decide on your spot and hope you don’t have the most generic black Chelsea boots that will ‘accidentally’ be taken home by somebody with the same model. The rule to remove your shoes at the door not only…
