Easton Leisure Centre

Staying in the Hilton Garden Inn Bristol city centre tonight, why have I never stayed here before?!?

Easton Leisure Centre is a short 20 minute walk across the slightly less glossy side of the city centre, so I decide a five minute Uber is the safer bet. I'm booked in for the 9pm evening lane session.

I first attempt a swim here a couple of years ago. I get as far as the car park for an evening session, then decide that a large group of teenagers, head to toe in black with hoods and masks, ragging around the very dark car park on bikes, probably isn't the place to leave my brand new Porsche.

Tonight I've already booked and paid the very reasonable — and oddly specific — £6.41 entry fee on the Everyone Active app. I used to hate this app, now I quite like it, and I don't think it has changed!

I always think this is an older 1960s style, run down pool, but how wrong I am. The pool feels fairly modern. It's one of those 90s style, metal roof, warehouse style pool buildings. Everything inside, from reception to changing to the pool deck, looks fresh. It has probably not long had a refurb, and it shows.

I'm 10 minutes early for the 9pm lane swim and the local swim club are finishing up their Christmas swim party with wacky races — exactly what we used to do at Triple-S 30 years ago in Perry Beeches pool.

On deck there's a main 25m, six lane pool, plus a learner pool with a water slide that loops outside the building.

I jump into one of the two centre fast lanes and get going. The water temp is perfect but very cloudy, visibility less than three metres.

It's just gone 9pm and I think the session is 50 minutes. I don't have a firm plan tonight and I haven't done a distance plod for a while, so I make a start and keep going until the whistle. Forty five minutes later, quick glance at the watch, I'm on 2.8km, then seconds later feel a twinge of cramp in the right thigh. It would pain me to finish on anything but a nice round 3km, so I pull through another eight lengths to round out the night. Finish just in time for a quick warm-down stretch before the whistle blows - and they don't hang about getting the pool cover on!

Uber back, then time for a quick Corona by the Christmas tree in the hotel bar, accompanied by royalty free, just different enough Christmas tunes before bed. I've got a very special swim planned for 7:30am tomorrow, which I believe is the last pool in Bristol to go on the list. Bristol, I love you, but you need to build more swimming pools!

Also loving this new trend of covering your car, van, motorbike, scooter in a million LED Christmas lights!