Meadowside Leisure Centre

Set off up the A38 to Burton Upon Trent for a 1pm swim, having checked the Everyone Active app the day before. I’m not a huge fan of midday swims, but it’s a new pool for the list and I’ve got just enough time before my 2:45pm dental appointment—as long as the usual HS2 construction traffic doesn’t throw me off.

Arrived right on time, only to be greeted by a super friendly receptionist who broke the bad news: the 1pm lane swim session I’d planned for was tomorrow’s timetable! Today’s session had just ended. Luckily, there was a public swim session with only eight people booked in, so I paid the £5.60 and headed to the changing rooms, feeling slightly apprehensive.

Out on the pool deck, the 25m pool—usually set up with six proper 2m-wide lanes had one-third of the pool sectioned off with a single lane rope for school swimming lessons, leaving two-thirds open for the public swim.

There were only ten of us in the pool, but instead of proper lane swimming, we were all swimming in our own 'slots', up and down, up and down - trying not to get in each others way. No organisation, no lane ropes, just chaos. I picked a 'lane' and tracked the centre floor tile line, but has to constantly dodge people drifting left and right. Honestly, if they’d just thrown in some lanes, it would’ve been a much better swim for everyone!

Managed a frustrating 2km swim—not my finest — and called it a day. Quick shower, teeth brushed, and headed back down the A38 to Shenstone for my dental appointment.