For Longer Laps

CHELSEA PIERS FITNESS, 60 Chelsea Piers, Manhattan; 265 Schermerhorn St., Brooklyn

LAST WINTER, when oceanswimming became untenable, Allaire Conte, who competes for Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers, tried repeatedly to reserve swim lanes at her local Y, but “right as the clock turned, somehow the lanes would already be booked every time.” After polling several open-water swimmers about training during the off-season, she found that most of them were Chelsea Piers devotees. (From $200 a month.) Conte now swims at the Downtown Brooklyn location, reserving 45-minute time slots—her former gym only offered 30—when its three available lanes open for reservations 24 hours in advance. (The Chelsea location has six lanes.) While more expensive than swimming at the Y, “there just isn’t the same kind of competition for lanes,” she says. There’s also a coworking space within the gym (a handy place to stand by if you’re wait-listed for a lane), plus a hot tub, steam room, and sauna, which Conte has found helpful for her tendinitis and swimmer’s shoulder.