22 December 2023
The Queen Mother Sports Centre was actually one of the first five English pools I ever swam in, but it was a family play time with all three daughters fifteen years ago when we spent time here as part of a “trip of a lifetime” (which also included a little more than 3 weeks between Kenya, Swaziland and South Africa). Like now, I was managing a European team for work, but doing that from the USA. In the summer of 2008, I decided to spend three weeks working from London: while I worked, the girls and my wife played tourist. I wasn’t yet a fully committed “pool tourist” and so didn’t do a workout at this pool, so it wasn't added until now.
No daughters joined me this morning, but I squeezed this 2,400 meter swim in between the tube and train down to LGW to pickup Monica. Zara arrives tomorrow, so hopefully wil get some more family swims in over the rest of the year.
This turned out to be a great place to swim, with super-wide lanes and almost zero crowds. It was far nicer than I recall; no doubt the upgrades they did in 2020 during the COVID lockdowns had a revitalizing effect. Plus, as it is a 5 minute walk from Victoria station, this might become a go-to facility when I am in the city for work.