Lichfield Leisure Centre

It’s not often a brand new pool is built just 20 minutes down the road. Lichfield Leisure Centre is a brand new pool, constructed just down the road from the old Friary Grange Leisure Centre - Pool 128 on the list, added back in June 2023.

The old pool was looking tired and in need of some serious investment. Lichfield Council made the right decision to build a new leisure centre from the ground up, just a few hundred yards down the road. They’ve also made a great decision bringing on board ReCreation Group consultants, with Olympic swimming steering from Rebecca Adlington, Adrian Turner and Steve Parry.

It’s 5:30am on the 2nd of January and I’m planning a 20 minute trip to the other side of Lichfield for what is literally the very first session at the new pool. I’m not sure what to expect. I know this first week is the soft launch, with the proper opening next Friday, 9th January. There was no option to book the session on the website. Will there be a queue? Will they limit session time?

Quick peek out of the bedroom window and we’ve got a very frosty view. A dusting of snow. It was raining last night and I think temperatures plummeted below zero and froze everything. I use my handy car app to turn on the heater and heated seats so it’s nice and toasty. Decide flip flops probably aren’t the right footwear this morning, so don socks instead.

Aeropress some coffee into the travel mug and I’m on my way. Yep, it’s definitely cold. A small power slide at the end of the road, then a bit of rally car racing up the hill. It’s only a dusting of snow, but I’m sure there’ll be people digging sledges out of sheds in the next few hours.

Ten minutes later, up the A38 on the outskirts of Lichfield, it’s like a different world. No snow and no sign of frost. Quite bizarre.

I arrive to a still very dark and relatively quiet car park, lined with plant machinery and fenced-off areas of landscaping still in progress. I find a parking space and head into reception. There is a bit of ice here and I nearly end up on my arse twice on the 20m walk from car to door.

Several staff are waiting to greet people in reception and they’re giving tours of the new facilities. I head to reception, but their card machine isn’t working and I don’t have cash, so I’ll pay on the way out.

Through to the communal changing rooms. Moment of panic as I thought a lady said I was in the ladies changing room. On clarification, for some reason she was telling me there was a separate ladies changing room. Right-oh.

Plenty of nice, clean changing cubicles and lockers. I’ve never seen an entire bank of working lockers before. Great to see they’ve gone for padlockable lockers. A couple of old-pool regulars are seemingly bemoaning the padlocks. I'm confident they’ll soon come to love the padlock arrangement, much better than coins, tokens or digital code nonsense.

One guy complains that he won’t remember which locker number is his, as the old pool system used to have the number on the key. Just remember what your padlock looks like. I then realise reception are selling the same style to everyone.

The cubicles are a bit odd. Some are a little dark where the ceiling lighting doesn’t quite stretch, and each cubicle has a weird little freestanding stool. Something I’ve never seen before. It’s usually some fixed bench arrangement. This might actually be genius.

The roller shutter from the changing room to the pool deck is down. It’s quiet. There aren’t a dozen people here. Still a couple of minutes before the 6:30am session starts. I head back to my locker quickly to stick my phone in my poolside dry bag, then hear a member of staff raise the shutter and congratulate a guy on being the very first person in. I hadn’t thought of that honour. I’ll have to settle for being fourth in the pool.

Out onto the pool deck, it’s a 25m six-lane pool and I’m really pleased to see that for its very first lane swim session it’s been set up by someone who knows what they’re doing. Double-width slow and medium lanes, with two individual fast lanes. Well done, that person. I’ve seen every variation of this during public lane swim sessions and this is definitely the right way to do it. Keeps everyone happy.

First glance down the pool and the lanes do look narrow. The lane ropes are the super chunky type, more typically found in full competition pools. Not complaining, but I think these give the visual appearance of shrinking the lane width.

Jump in and make a start, planning a regular 3.2km session. 1.6km, then broken down into shorter sets. The pool is the perfect temperature. The water is super clear, there’s almost no chlorine chemical taste, and the light blue pool lining gives everything a clean, slick look.

My Arena Swipe anti-fog goggles are due for a change. I typically get six months out of a pair and I’ve had about 250km out of these. For the last few swims they’ve been fogging up and I’ve had to squint and let a bit of water in to swish and clear them on my usual longer opening set. I’ve ordered something different, some 3D printed Magic5 goggles. I had to download an app and complete a face scan after ordering. I’ve no idea how long they’ll take to come, but hopefully soon, and hopefully they’re a perfect fit.

At the first turn I notice the walls, and the pool floor, are a flat lining-type surface, not the usual tiles. The black lane centres and ends are painted super sharp, but as you push off the wall there’s some flex. Not an issue, just slightly odd. I wonder if this would be FINA competition approved. The smooth surface also needs a careful eye to get your flip turn timed just right.

I’m a bit light on sleep, carrying a few extra Christmas kilos, and I’ve had a few days out of the pool over Christmas and New Year. Today feels hard going. I convince myself it’s a slow pool. My swim pace certainly suggests something isn’t quite where it should be, and I’m guessing they haven’t got the length wrong.

Swim done. I was concerned how busy this very first session in a brand new pool might be. Turns out I have a lane to myself for most of the session.

Back to the changing rooms and I decide the separate stool idea really is genius. Much better than a fixed bench.

Thinking about the pool lining, the building construction, the bring-your-own padlock lockers and the changing room stools, I think these may have been cost-saving moves, and sensible ones too. Everything feels very utility-focused and low cost of ownership. I bet that smooth pool lining is far easier to keep clean than tiles with grout lines. I bet you’d have to replace that changing room stool ten times before it cost the same as a fixed bench. And think of the money they’ll make off padlock sales. Joking, there’s no profiteering at £5 a pop.

Lichfield has a population of about 35,000 people and this is a fantastic facility for the local community.

Time to head home. The card machine still isn't working so it's a free swim! The sun’s coming up and the crisp frost on the fields gives a very wintery scene. I’ve got a dentist appointment at 11am in Shenstone, so I’ll be driving two-thirds of the way back to Lichfield again in an hour.