23 June 2026 I had written over nine years ago about the four Olympic pools in which I'd had the pleasure of swimming, but that post was a couple of years after I had swum in that fourth Olympic pool, the Peter Daland pool at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center on the University of Southern California campus in 2015 ... and that was pool #206 on my #1001pools list! It's taken me over a decade and 600 new pools tallied before I got to add my fifth Olympic pool, but the Olympia Schwim

12 June 2026 Some pools are iconic for their beauty, for their unique architecture, for the history of competitions held there. But there are also pools in the world that, while possibly having something to offer in & of their inherent pool-ness, are special because of who trained there, because of the excellence produced there. The Meadowbrook Swim Club on the outskirts of Baltimore is rightly famous as the childhood and young adult training ground of Michael Phelps ... Bab

10 May 2026 I’ve been too busy with work and life while trying to squeeze swimming into the former to writeup my racing and the great 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games pool, the Sandwell Aquatics Centre, which became pool #794 on my #1001Pools list. I was up there on Sunday, May 10th, for their first ever Masters meet and, other than a brief episode after my 200 freestyle, had a great day. I always love swimming in a “games legacy” pool, having enjoyed swimming in: Multip

4 May 2026 I asked ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini to describe Luton in three words. I got: Gritty. Transient. Unvarnished Industrial. Diverse. Connected. Gritty, underrated, unpretentious. I’ll take Underrated and Unpretentious (props to Anthropic) but, based upon only visiting the 2012-era, 8-lane, 50-meter, all deep competition pool at the Inspire: Luton Sports Village, I would add LOVELY. I have had this pool on my “London Pool Bucket List” for awhile, but it’s just far enough

18 April 2026 Just like last weekend , I lined up a full "Swimming Saturday" ... 3,200 meter morning Barnet Copthall masters team workout Gargantuan chicken caesar salad at the Silver Service Cafe for our team breakfast/brunch ... and then, starting from the end of the Northern Line at Mill Hill East, a tube, train and bus to head out to Swindon's Link Centre for an afternoon of racing This massive, if dated, facility has come to closest to reminding me of a Canadian commun

31 March 2026 As I wrapped up my 5,900 total meters in my second pool of the day to celebrate my birthday ... and then reflected on text messages with my swimming-father who was about to celebrate his 83rd birthday and who was resisting swimming my "gift" to him of a very creative 2,075-meter workout (e.g., 83 x 25) ... I came to the conclusion that I need to develop "Swimming Rule of 60" to guide future birthday swimming celebrations, completely stealing the idea from famous

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

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

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

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