13 September 2026 Getting “racing reps” in, at least for me, is critical to eventually swimming fast at a peak meet. I get to try out different strategies, extend myself to do different things than I normally do in a workout. As well, no matter how hard I try, I can never summon the same level of energy and commitment in a workout that I can in a competition, so racing is also a great way to push my limits. Plus, I just love to race. This quote from Australian great Lani

6 September 2026 My memories of Bracknell go back 20 years ... but not for swimming. In the summer of 2006, I was building the European arm of the first analytics startup I had become involved with a few years earlier. I had built my fledgling team in Theale to maybe 4 or 5 people. We were the scrappy startup division inside a scrappy startup company (HQd in the USA). Over that summer and into the early fall, we engineered a deal with a client HQd in Bracknell that more th

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

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

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

20 December 2024 I think I'll get a lot more takers on this fun main set versus the last set I posted ;) I first did the MEMO (Marcia's...

18 December 2022 It's been over a decade since I last tried tapering for a meet where I switched out my normal mid-to-long distance focus...

5 October 2020 I had a double treat this morning to kickoff a week's staycation - I got to train with my eldest daughter, Maia, who came...