Race Report: Return to Reading

10 May 2025

My first major global professional role that brought me routinely through the UK started in 2002 and, by 2005, we had established an office in Theale, just outside of Reading. Though the occasions were few, when I could make the logistics work, I would drop in and train with the Reading Swimming Club Masters team. That was my first experience swimming with a "foreign" club (outside of the USA or Canada) and I recall how welcoming they were at their former home pool, the (now demolished) Reading Central Swimming Pool (an "OG" on my #1001Pools list at #39):

Reading Central Pool (2009)

What a treat it was to take the Elizabeth Line out to the (practically new, opened June 2024) Rivermead Leisure Centre to race today:

While I was mentally excited check this pool out, having been on the road for the last three weeks (I returned from North America a week ago only to head out for a three-day biz trip to Switzerland and Germany on Monday), my body was physically not feeling chipper. Over the last two weeks since racing in Toronto, I've been dragging in the pool so I didn't expect much.

It started rough, but did get better.

200 free

• Masters Best – 2:02.37 (2005, age 38)

• 50+ Best – 2:06.43 (2022, age 55)

• UK Best – 2:08.56 (Birmingham, March 2024)

• Result – 2:09.56

• Reaction

  • I told myself I'd go out hard and see if I could hang on.

  • I couldn't.

  • Splits were 30.1 - 32.1 - 33.5 - 33.9

  • This just hurt. The time wasn't bad. It just hurt.

50 free

• Masters Best – 25.79 (2008, age 41)

• 50+ Best – 26.68 (2022, age 55)

• UK Best – 27.36 (Basingstoke, December 2024)

• Result – 27.62

• Reaction

  • I still don't know how to sprint, but I strangely love throwing the 50 free in as a filler race with no consequences.

There was about two hours between sessions and it was a stunningly gorgeous day, so I went and sat along the Thames, called my wife (she's still working overseas) for a good catchup and read the next book on my "aquatic reading list."

Then I went back for the first event of the second session:

200 fly

• Masters Best – 2:15.35 (2011, age 44)

• 50+ Best – 2:25.09 (2020, age 53)

• UK Best – 2:32.46 (Guernsey, April 2024)

• Result – 2:27.54

• Reaction

  • I took the completely opposite approach from the 200 free for this event, trying to "sleep through" the first 100, only gently picking up effort on the 3rd 50 and then powering home the last 50.

  • I probably left too much to close as my splits were 35.9, 38.4, 38.3, 34.8, but this was a much more pleasant way to swim a 200.

  • This was a really encouraging result and I'll get to race this again in June at the AP Race Masters Grand Prix in Winchester, where I'd like to get under that 2:25 time.

  • Were I a British citizen, this would be a National Record (current is 2:28.19), but I'll need to go sub 2:20 to approach the Canadian National Record (2:19.88), while the USA record is a bonkers 2:16.86.

It's always great to get up and race; even better to end on a high note.