Chase Leisure Centre. Have Goggles, Will Travel Pool #114

Friday afternoon swim with shopping.

Keen to get a full 3km session in today after a week out of the pool. I have a dentist appointment in Shenstone, so naturally, I searched for a nearby pool. I’ve had the Chase Leisure centre in mind for a while as a local ‘numbers’ pool. The afternoon lane swim session starts at midday and runs for 55 minutes. The timing is perfect for the dentist appointment and a 3km session - provided I can start right at 12pm …

Arrive on time and head to reception… £5 entry fee … but my card keeps declining! After 10 minutes of trying to figure out what’s going on, I finally manage to pay, get changed, and go out to the pool deck.

Urrff, it’s jam-packed and far from the ideal lane setup. It’s a full 25m x 6 lane pool but with only three rope lanes at the far side, and seemingly no lane speed or direction signs. Jump in the end lane, the quickest of the three and make a start with three other swimmers.

After a reasonable speed 40-length, we’re down to just one other lane buddy, and she’s running a decent pace. The mood lightens a bit and I manage to fit in another 1km of 4x250m’s before they blow the whistle bang on 12:55.

This feels like another local pool run by someone who doesn’t swim! They have proper lane ropes right on the pool deck but don’t use them. They only put in three lanes for a ‘lane swim session’; they don’t bother with lane speed or swim direction signs - and yes, these are important; two adjacent lanes circling in opposite directions will get a few hand smacks! especially with flimsy ropes. I found myself pulling a stroke every time I passed an oncoming swimming the next lane.

Swim done, off to the nearby McArthur Glen discount shopping village to see if I can find a replacement for my favourite jumper that I left in a Florida hotel room closet last month! … and seeing as the sun has now made an appearance, a Starbucks iced caramel macchiato!