(Photo: Daniel Avila/Courtesy of NYC Parks and Recreation)

• Flushing Meadows Corona Park Pool & Rink

  125-40 Roosevelt Ave., at Avery Ave., Flushing; 718-271-7572

  London long ago nabbed the 2012 summer Olympics, but New York didn’t walk away completely empty-handed. The $66.3 million Flushing Meadows Corona Park aquatic center and its ten-lane, 50-meter indoor pool were initially commissioned to host the event’s synchronized-swimming and water-polo competitions. For as little as $5 a day (or $75 a year), you can dive, swim laps, or just splash around under the arched roof and wall of windows. If you’re more of a winter-games enthusiast, there’s a smallish ice rink downstairs (admission from $5; rentals $5). The facility is open year-round, so you can work on your butterfly in January and your hockey stop in July.

From the 2010 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine