Ponds Forge International Sport Centre

Ponds Forge in Sheffield has long been considered one of the UK's premier competition pools—a 'fast' pool, as swimmers like to say. But honestly? I think a lot of that is in the mind of the swimmer. I’m far from a pro these days, and my pace isn’t exactly the best gauge, but I remember swimming here 30 years ago and thinking it felt slow. Turns out, I still feel the same way today!

For me, a fast pool is clean, clear, and has an uncluttered floor with a consistent depth of more than two metres. Ponds Forge, on the other hand, has a pool floor that’s visually busy—knackered tiles, an old-style adjustable floor at either end that doesn’t quite fit properly, and slightly yellowed, dull tiles that are just distracting while swimming.

Ponds Forge was the home of British swimming for the second half of the 20th century, but it's now looking a little tired. The entire complex feels a bit tatty. The pool floor has stained tiles, broken plastic dangles from the underside of the booms, and even though the changing rooms seem to have had a revamp in recent years, the overall look and feel is dated.

There’s only one fast lane, and it’s super busy. No time to overthink—just jump in and get going. They could really use some lane etiquette boards because swimmers pushing off right in front of me got frustrating fast. It turned into an unplanned shoulder workout as I had to overtake someone every 50 metres. Settled into a 3.2km plod to rack up some distance before finishing off with some 100s to bring the session to 4.5km.

Towards the end of my session, the lane emptied out... only for someone crazy fast to jump in! And for the first time ever, I found myself having to let someone doing a kick set pass me. The guy was wearing British Swimming trunks and a Millfield hat with the name ‘Richards’—and I’m pretty sure it was none other than Matt Richards of Olympic fame! A local swimmer mentioned he’d been in a few times that week. The pool staff were busy setting up for a competition, removing and reattaching the timing boards and setting out chairs, so the two things may well have been related.

With the swim done, it was time to check in to the local Hilton before a cross-town walk to The Leadmill for a gig. One of my all-time favourite live bands, The Wildhearts, were playing—so a pretty solid way to round off the day!

Ponds Forge still has its reputation, but for me, it’s not quite living up to the ‘fast’ label anymore. That said, it’s a piece of British swimming history and still attracts some of the best. Just be ready for a bit of a battle in the fast lane!