11 July 2026 As Elton John sang ... "… It's getting late have you seen my mates Ma tell me when the boys get here It's seven o'clock and I want to rock ..." The boys (and girls) were out, but no bellies full of beer because Saturday night was allright for racing at the Life Leisure Grand Central pool in Stockport for the Cheshire County Masters SCM Championships: I cannot recall when I first learned of this pool, but the facility, dating to an urban regeneration project in th

4 July 2026 King Charles happens to be in residence this weekend at nearby Palace of Holyroodhouse, but, though he was a keen swimmer in his youth, I didn't see him at either Friday or Saturday morning's long course lane swimming times at the fantastic Royal Commonwealth Pool: Speaking of royalty, this pool was officially opened January 16, 1970 by Princess Anne and it was her first ever solo official visit. This facility also has the superlative as the only pool to ever hos

30 June 2026 As I was planning our move to London in 2023 and started swimming around the town on visits that summer, I started to learn about English lido culture and began to hear about this apparently magical, 90-meter long unheated Tooting Bec Lido in south London, London's longest lido (and, I believe, second only to Cambridge's 91-meter / 100 yard length Jesus Green Lido in terms of longest pools in England). I did make it down to the indoor, 33-meter long Tooting Leisu

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

14-15 June 2026 There are times when you just need a swim, no matter how short, no matter how "un-special" the pool is. Monday morning, June 15th, the last day of my 28-day adventure between Canada and the USA was such a day. I was scheduled to fly back to London that evening from Toronto, but had work calls to do in the morning before flying from EWR Liberty up to YYZ Pearson in the early afternoon. I didn't have time for much - just 1,650 yards - but I wanted a swim to s

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

7 June 2026 I first swam at Burlington's renovated Mountainside Pool (#607) just about three weeks after the multi-million dollar revamp was finished (ribbon cutting was June 30th, 2023) and absolutely loved the three long course lanes, but it was more fun and special to go there this June with Monica, about a week after her wedding and the last full day I had in Ontario this year: My wife and I had started considering Burlington as a future long-term hometown back during the

29 May 2026 Canadian Masters (SCM) Nationals are behind me so I'm turning my training attention to the European Aquatics LCM Masters Championships being held mid-August near Bratislava, Slovakia. With my second daughter's wedding outside of Toronto tomorrow, my training time has been limited this week, but I did manage to squeeze in 3,400-meters in the excellent training pool at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre this morning: Assuming my wonky right knee* holds up, I will t

23 May 2026 Win-some-ish because I only won one race (100 fly) ... but I was actually most delighted with the race I got second place in (200 free) and the two (of three relays) I swam with my Canadian Masters team, the Burlington Masters Swim Club, at the very good Windsor International Aquatic & Training Centre (now pool #797): But, I was most relieved that, after being too aggressive on my takeoff on the 200 mixed free relay at the end of the Friday session which resulted

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