Swimming Culture

There is a strong swimming culture in Iceland, with swimming pools filled with geothermal hot water throughout the country. Sometimes it is said that, just as the Irish meet in pubs and the French in cafés, so the Icelanders meet in hot pots. This is, perhaps, putting it a bit strongly, but certainly everyone agrees that the pools are very popular.
    There are over 100 public swimming pools, most of which are outdoor pools. They are heated by the general hot water supply (that is, from a geothermal source) which makes it possible to use the swimming pools all year round.
    At Laugardalur in Reykjavík, where the washing pools of the people of Reykjavík were once located, is a large swimming pool and other sporting facilities.

Vocabulary
“Bringusund”: breaststroke, “baksund”: backstroke, “flugsund”: butterfly, “skriðsund”: Australian crawl, “björgunarsund”: life-saving, “að troða marvaða”: to tread water.