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

11 April 2026 I decided to really put my heart through its paces on Saturday, starting off with a 2,600 meter workout with my Masters team at the Barnet Copthall pool ... ... which featured a warmup set of 16 x 25 (where I started to ramp up the heart rate) before a main set of 9 x 100, 3 each on 1:35, 1:30, 1:25 where I held mostly 1:13/14s through the first six and then descended down to 1:08 on the last three. I then had enough time to have a great, if a bit abbreviated,

22 March 2026 The organisers of the (gala name aside) excellent " Derbyshire Open Masters Championships" missed a brilliant branding opportunity to name this the "2026 Swimming Derby in Derby." Held at the most(ly) excellent Moorways Sports Village (now pool 779)... (click to enlarge pictures) ... this one day event afforded me the opportunity to finally get in my first racing of 2026, and to have a bit of a short weekend getaway with my wife. Thanks to a couple of health "

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

5 October 2025 This morning’s very short 1,100 meters was so for three very good reasons. First, this leisure centre just outside of the downtown core of Southampton doesn’t start its Sunday lane swimming service until 8:30am and I have a morning train to catch back to London, with breakfast still to eat. Second, with yesterday’s 2,500 meters fast aerobic Masters workout, I had already ratcheted up my average weekly swim volume by 30%**, and I am trying to be mindful of incre

1 September 2025 I didn't see any evidence of potters anywhere at the massive Furzefield Leisure Centre in Potters Bar, the first town...

30 August 2025 My wife went to Paris for the weekend to connect with her (practically) lifelong friend, who happened to be there for a...

27 August 2025 Technically (unless I do some rounding), I didn't cross the 75% achievement hurdle on my #1001Pools goal until I swam in...

25 August 2025 Since Roman times, many people arrive in Bath, England with healing waters on their minds. I was no different when my wife...