11 January 2026 " It was not true that travel was a false god and that you took your troubles with you and nothing could change.  There was the unimaginable and unforeseen thrill of being away, of renewal, and remembering that the world was huge and various, and you and your concerns were small.” => Ian McEwan, What We Can Know I will hold myself forward as world-class in appreciating the unimaginable and unforeseen thrill of being away. I got my first passport as I neared g

30 December 2025 I ended 2025 the way I spent the year: racing! After discovering the uncrowded, super-clean and well-maintained 25-yard pool at the Ron Edwards YMCA in Burlington, Ontario, I decided to use this pool for this year’s entry into the MEMO Swim Team’s 400 Kick-For-Time .  I paired a Christmas gift – a new FINIS Swim Fuse entry level tech suit (more on this below) – with their Smart Goggles to time this late morning on the 30 th .  I had one of the lanes in the d

16 December 2025 I don't think I've ever been more surprised by a city than I was by Warsaw. Admittedly, I had done very little reconnaissance ahead of this trip so my pre-conceived notions of Poland were overly-influenced by memories from letters from a friend of mine who worked here in the post-Solidarity, re-opening to the "west" days of the early 1990s. Letters which painted an expectant and hopeful society, but bleak skies and an even bleaker infrastructure. I fully r

14 December 2025 I first found out about the European Masters SCM Championships in early September, saw the opportunity to visit Poland for the first time, and had no problem convincing my wife to make a long weekend of it, with a couple of days planned for racing in Lublin and then a couple of days for pure tourism in Warsaw. With Ryanair flying non-stop to Lublin, BA doing the same out of Warsaw, and the excellent and economical PKP Intercity train service between the tw

16 November 2026 I like to race at least once a month, whether I'm ready for it or not. Much as I do enjoy training, racing is a treat, racing is the reward. Racing, whether the result is good or bad, is always an unalloyed good. So, I enter events ... almost always with some measure of ambition ... and then I deal with the body that shows up on the blocks and see what happens. I entered the Charlie Lane Semi-Serious meet in Etobicoke days after finishing the Swim England

25-26th October 2025 I can't recall when I first learned about the Pond Forge International Sports Centre , but I've been wanting to compete here, or at least train here, since before I moved to England a couple of years ago. Some of my late 1980s University of Texas teammates raced here at the event the pool was built for, the 1991 World University Games, but I was completely off the grid living in rural Eswatini (now Swaziland) then, so I think this facility more likely ca

18th/19th October 2025 ... my 10th-great-grandfather, John Brundish and his wife, Rachel (née Hubbard), left their home in Felsham, England in Suffolk county for the new world. In 1633, John and Rachel would have been 40 and 33, respectively, and they sailed with two children, settling in what is today Connecticut, but was then part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. For reasons unknown, they dropped the "-ish" and replaced it with an "age" and thus the North American Brundag

14 October 2025 I think many swimmers can relate to the idea of seeking to swim the perfect race. Yes, the final time matters, but a perfect race is much more than the results. A perfect race is when you execute your strategy perfectly. A perfect race is when all the fundamentals are executed with precision: starts, underwaters, turns, stroke count, breathing patterns. A perfect race is when you feel simultaneously in control and complete command of your body, while at the sa

12 October 2025 I am no expert on the intersection of the British school system with elite sports performance, but I have learned enough from living here almost two years to know that Millfield Prepatory School has an impressive aquatic pedigree.  When I saw an afternoon meet pop on the Swimming England Masters calendar, the Southwest Region Open Meet, I knew I had to make the trip.   It did not disappoint.  This facility, dedicated in 1995, has a reverential air, from the v

6 October 2025 Well, Boris did one thing great, even if all it probably was, was showing up and cutting a ribbon. While the 1930s era lido gets all the pool love online (which appears deserved), I swam indoors today and think this is the finest leisure Centre aquatic facility in the London area (note: I still think the London Aquatics Centre is the best pool, but that’s in a different category). The indoor tank appears to be 50M, with at least the far end (in the picture) at