Aquatic Friends in Africa (Pool #741)

27 May 2025

"I get by with a little help from my (aquatic) friends."

No single lyric** could more aptly describe the support I've gotten from my swimming friends and the broader swimming & fitness community over the last 18 years in my pursuit of my #1001Pools quest.

Today's swim at the Bishop MacKenzie International School in Lilongwe, Malawi was another case in point.  About a month ago, my wife had done a trail running race supporting the Medic to Medic NGO near Blantyre and, through that experience, she met a woman, Selena, who she learned was also a swimmer.  Being a very supportive wife, Bella asked Selena for Lilongwe pool tips and then connected me with Selena.

Late this afternoon, Selena was instrumental in getting me in for a ~45 minute 3,000-meter workout at this fine six-lane, 25-meter pool.  The pool reminded me of those I had swum in both Eswatini and Mozambique in the early 90s - concrete tanks with painted bottoms - nothing super-tech, but well cared for and highly functional.  There was a constant 1.2M depth with flat walls and blocks at both ends (remind me not to race breaststroke ever here and do my normal deep underwater post-dive pullout).   The water felt even chillier than Sunday's pool, so I did a workout primarily of short rest, aerobic 200s and 100s.  This felt great after that turn-heavy swim in the 15-meter pool.  

The pool did have a feature I've not seen yet: very clear, permanent arrows at each end directing swimmers the direction of travel. While my North American self prefers swimming up the right (anti-clockwise). I do appreciate that all lanes swam the same direction ... this nonsense they do in the UK of alternating swim direction every lane still exasperates me.

The complex itself includes colourful stands around 3/4 of the main pool, along with a separate, smaller pool which appeared to be in the 15-meter range, likely used for lessons and/or other activities.  And, I very much loved the colourful and team-branded backstroke flags, not to mention the intimidating team name!

Thanks again, Selena, for making this happen for me!  Hopefully, someday, I could return the favour to you (and/or your swimming Dad!)

** Subtly, but suitably adapted for the pool