Late night 3km swim in Bath (UK's best city?)
Late-night 3km swim in Bath (UK’s best city?)
I’ve been working in the Clevedon office for a couple of days and stayed at my usual Cadbury House Hilton last night, but quite unusually, there was no availability for this evening - and at breakfast this morning I discovered why! The New Zealand cricket team are in residence between the 2019 England & Wales Cricket World Cup games! I did notice the extra security, all suits and earpieces when I checked in last night but didn’t think much of it but when I came down to breakfast this morning - for the usual two poached eggs on white (not brown, Kaya!) toast, the restaurant was a sea of training gear! So this evening, I’ve been forced to kip elsewhere, and as I’m London bound in the morning for a full day of meetings (Twickenham > Fulham > Olympia), I thought I’d take the opportunity to visit my favourite city in the UK, Bath (located my favourite county, Somerset!).
I recently added the pool (#64) at Bath University just up the hill a couple of miles from the city centre, great to be back in town with time for a swim in the central public Bath Leisure Centre pool.
I’d already checked the pool timetable, club sessions until 9 pm, with an hour-long end-of-evening 9 - 10 pm public lane swim session. Having left the office at gone 7 pm, (just before the Clevedon 10km run starts right outside the car park gates!) this should work just about right.
Arrive at the pool 45 minutes early, park up and enjoy the heated seats for 15-minutes before heading in, pay the very reasonable entry fee and head straight into the communal changing rooms. Following some ridiculous small changing cubicles recently, really pleased to see large cubicles with sufficient space to swing a cat! I’m changed, but still, 15-minutes to the sessions start! Find myself nodding off sat on the bench in the lovely warm changing room - my body clock is not familiar with late-night swims!
Head out to the pool deck, its a 25m, 6-lane pool with a smaller teaching pool at the foot and an adjacent splash pool with an overhead water slide to the far side. Everything looks clean, tidy and well specified. Jump in the furthest lane and make a start. It’s late, and I’m tired but keen to ensure I complete a 3km session this evening, this usually takes around 57 minutes so with just the hour available, get to it! The shallow end is super shallow! Will need to be careful not to bang my head on turns! Also, the pool temperature is a few degrees higher than ideal, not too bad but noticeable.
Make my way through 120 lengths to complete the 3km, its a slow pace but more focus on longer sets this evening. 1,000m followed by 4x 250m then 10x 100’s.
10 pm and I’m ready for bed, a 5-minute drive to the Hilton, quick pot noodle, admire the river view from my room (through the late-night June gloom) then sleep, long day tomorrow!
Swim Stats
- 3000 meters total swim
- 1:33 pace / 100m
- Garmin Swim Watch
Review
(58/100)
Great pool and sports centre located right in the heart of the city. Reasonable walk-up swim price, tidy changing and poolside facilities. The water and general pool and changing were perfectly clean although the water was slightly warmer than my liking.
Pool Details
- Length 25 meters
- 6-lane pool
- Indoor
Bath Sports and Leisure Centre
North Parade Road, Bath, Somerset, BA2 4ET, UK
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