9 Races, 8 Trains, 3 Lifetime Bests & 2 New Pools (#730 & #731)
- Patrick W. Brundage
- Apr 19
- 4 min read
13 April 2025
With my wife leaving London in early April for an extended work engagement in Africa, I decided to distract myself from the emptiness of our quiet house on my first weekend home alone by keeping myself very busy … and taking advantage of the UK’s most excellent rail system to make this all happen.
There were two, single-day meets happening north of me ...
Saturday, April 12th - Yorkshire Swimming Association Masters and Senior Age Group Meet
Sunday, April 13th - Staffordshire Masters Championships
... and when I noticed that Saturday meet started in the afternoon and the Staffordshire meet offered 25s of all strokes, I decided to make a weekend of it, swimming some focus events on Saturday and then just having fun with a sprinty Sunday.
Knowing I didn't want to mess with the cost or hassle of renting a car, I rode the rails for the weekend, taking eight different trains - 6 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday, staying overnight at a pub-hotel in downtown Stafford:
(Click images for larger view and route descriptions)
Saturday – Beatific in Beverly
I started on the Northern Line at an eminently reasonable ~7:40am to make the trek north, via King’s Cross and Doncaster before arriving in the lovely little town of Beverely a little after 11:30am, time enough to chug some more espresso at Chugg (across from the station) and to gaze in wide wonder at the Beverly Minster**, a massive almost cathedral that dominates the skyline, before making my way to the East Riding Leisure Centre (now pool #730) by noon, very comfortably ahead of the 12:30pm warmup time.
Though the colour scheme was different, this eight-lane, 25-meter pool could be a mirror copy of my home pool at Barnet Copthall (BC)*** with the same depth throughout, blocks and turn end wall. That made the competition pool solid for racing, though the ~10M long "baby pool" that was maybe 2 feet deep was sub-par as a cool-down facility.
I set my sites on the 100 IM and 200 free during the morning session, and then the 400 free in the afternoon session. I had not rested at all for this weekend, but wanted to compare my performances with racing thirteen months ago when I had rested and raced these events at the University of Birmingham. Though, naturally, I can find fault in each of my performances, the results were solid and satisfactory:
100 IM – 1:07.51 vs 1:07.45 from March '24
200 free – 2:09.06 vs. 2:08.96 from March '24
400 free – 4:33.16 vs 4:32.12 from March '24
What was particularly invigorating, though, is that Swim England Masters meets will sometimes use a formula to age-adjust and standardise results across age groups, developed by Alan Rowson which improved upon a prior Finnish formula. This meant that, for example, while I won my age group and was the fourth fastest swimmer in the 400 free, on an age-adjusted basis, I was the "fastest."
As this age-adjusting formula worked out so that I "won" all three of my events, I think it's a beautiful thing!
I didn't tarry too long after my last race, as I had to make some tight connections across the three-train journey from Beverley to Stafford. I was actually able to grab an excellent seafood-centric takeaway meal from a fine-dining restaurant located at the Beverley station - Cerutti 2 - at a bargain (compared to London prices) so I was well-satisfied and didn't need any top-up when I arrived around 10pm to the hotel/pub in Stafford.
... but, as fine as Saturday was, it was not when I got my three lifetime best times!
Sunday – Sprinting in Stafford
Aesthetically, with its massive windows, the Stafford Leisure Centre (now pool #731) is more beautiful, but it shared the same design of an 8-lane, 25M competition pool fronting a tiny baby pool which doubled as our cool-down facility:
There were two sessions, with each session having two 25 races. I decided to enter all four and to thread in the 50 free (morning) and 100 free (afternoon) for six total races.
AM - 25 backstroke, 50 free, 25 fly
PM - 100 free, 25 breast, 25 free
I'm being a bit cheeky with regards to the lifetime best because I had never competed in a 25 meter backstroke or breaststroke officially in my life, but I had actually swum both the 25 fly back in Guelph (Ontario) in 2019 and the 25 free in Flagstaff (Arizona) in 2013. But, a lifetime best is a lifetime best, so I'll take 'em ... especially when I beat 52-year old Patrick (13.91) with my 13.66 fly performance!
As for the "real races" - the 50 and 100 free - these just hurt, hurt, hurt, especially the 100 free where I went a dismal 1:01.4 (I have been going just under 1:00 the last two times I raced in 2024). The 50 free was marginally better (27.84) versus a 27.36 from last December ... but in each of these races, I slipped pushing off on every turn in the shallow end. I don't think that was just me as I heard a number of other swimmers mention the same thing.
All in all, this was a very fun, very busy weekend ... exactly what I needed to ward off the loneliness of my empty home,
**I’m not a religious type, but I do love a massive piece of architecture, especially one so ornate and impressive.
***though East Riding (ER) was built in 2005 and BC completed in 2019
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