Henderson Multigenerational Outdoor Competition Pool

There's nothing like a morning swim in the sun in a warm climate.

It was a windy night in the Vegas valley last night. I hear 250 flights were cancelled and 1,000 homes are without power this morning. There is certainly a layer of dust on the car, and it's been in a covered car park all night!

Head over to the next city this morning, to possibly my favourite Nevada city, Henderson. It's only 12 minutes from the Las Vegas strip on the other side of the airport, but it feels like a world away. It's the original Las Vegas 'place to live', before Summerlin came along with its more modern amenities. I believe it's still home to high calibre celebrities, including Mike Tyson and Celine Dion.

Arrive at the pool and head to reception, where I'm charged the absolute bargain price of $5.00, plus a 14 cent card charge. They have handmade posters and artwork around the place declaring a love for swimming. It's a well spec'd sports center with everything from a climbing walls to courts for every type of ball! No doubt they've on the Pickle Ball crazy band wagon!

Quick change, then head out to the pool deck. There are two pools here, the indoor 4-lane 25 yard pool and the outdoor Olympic competition pool. The sun's out, so I head through the door at the end of the pool deck and down the stairs to tackle the fantastic 50 metre by 25 yard open air pool first.

It's currently set up with 18+ 25 yard width lanes - I think Tuesday and Thursday morning are 50m sessions. There are a couple of ropes out at the far end of the pool, with music pumping out for an aqua aerobics session, but otherwise, bar a couple of other swimmers, I've got the pick of a dozen lanes.

Select a lane a few up from the diving boards, jump in and make a start. The water is crystal clear and the perfect temperature. Launch into an initial planned 2,200 yard plod, quickly become quite aware that the 16 foot pool depth of the diving pit, with no close pool tile flooring for reference, makes the 25 yards feel more like metres!

Finish up a 4,200 yard swim outdoors, then head indoors to get that second pool added to the list.