[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":87},["ShallowReactive",2],{"latest-published-pool-number":3,"page-\u002Fpool\u002Fspiceball-leisure-centre":4,"surround-\u002Fpool\u002Fspiceball-leisure-centre":78},303,{"id":5,"title":6,"address":7,"body":8,"city":43,"country":44,"date":45,"description":46,"device":47,"distance":48,"extension":49,"featured_image":50,"gallery":51,"googlemap":53,"lanes":54,"latitude":55,"length":56,"longitude":57,"meta":58,"metaDescription":59,"metaTitle":60,"navigation":61,"ogImage":62,"pace":63,"path":64,"pool":65,"published":61,"rating":56,"review":66,"robots":62,"schemaOrg":62,"seo":67,"setupLanes":68,"setupLength":56,"setupUnits":69,"sitemap":70,"state":72,"stem":73,"tags":74,"type":75,"units":69,"url":76,"__hash__":77},"pools\u002Fpool\u002F291.spiceball-leisure-centre.md","Spiceball Leisure Centre","Cherwell Drive, Banbury OX16 2BW, United Kingdom",{"type":9,"value":10,"toc":39},"minimark",[11,15,18,21,24,27,30,33,36],[12,13,14],"p",{},"Sometimes I worry about filename clashes with blog posts. Some pools, even at opposite ends of the world, have very similar names. Spiceball Leisure Centre might be unique!",[12,16,17],{},"Arrive at Heathrow after an overnight flight back from Nashville. It's 27 degrees, which somehow feels hotter than 33 in Tennessee, and I'm in need of a shower. Home is a two-hour drive north, so a quick search finds a pool just off the M40. Spiceball jumps out! Apparently the area is known as 'spiceball' becaue a local butcher in the 1880s made spicy seasoned meatballs, so now you know!",[12,19,20],{},"There's not much to say about this pool. Pay for parking, make a quick change in the communal changing rooms and head out to the pool deck. It's a busy 25m, six-lane pool, with a separate learner pool at the side. The main pool is set up as three double-width lanes with rope dividers. Great.",[12,22,23],{},"Stretch, jump in, then get straight back out after remembering the locker is still open. Back in the pool and make a start.",[12,25,26],{},"It's definitely a chlorinated pool. You always have to wonder why they need to put so much chlorine in. They're testing it constantly, so I always assume they're battling dirty water. Visibility isn't great. As far as I can tell, that's mostly down to microbubbles in the water column rather than genuinely cloudy water.",[12,28,29],{},"The pool looks fairly new and the leisure centre seems well specced, but this lane swim session might as well be a public splash with no real lanes.",[12,31,32],{},"Granted, it's a midday session, but it's hard to believe any pool doesn't understand that double-width lanes, especially for a 'fast' lane, cause problems. Just put another rope in. It won't cost anything, and faster swimmers might actually return to these sessions. Right now, we avoid them wherever possible.",[12,34,35],{},"That's 2,000m done. Feeling a little fresher and more ready for the drive home. There are 41 miles to go and 54 miles of range left on the car battery. I'll risk it!",[12,37,38],{},"Not a great swim experience overall, and certainly not a pool I'll be rushing back to. I did enjoy a post-swim chat with the guy in the Chill Swim Windermere cap - Good luck this year my friend!",{"title":40,"searchDepth":41,"depth":41,"links":42},"",2,[],"Banbury","United Kingdom","2026-07-17","A post-flight shower before the drive home.","Garmin Forerunner 965",2000,"md","spiceball-leisure-centre-square.webp",[50,52],"spiceball-leisure-centre-entrance.webp","https:\u002F\u002Fmaps.app.goo.gl\u002FbWCTmohERERvjvte6","6",52.06456885266078,25,-1.3316315864488684,{},"Pool review, photos and information for Spiceball Leisure Centre swimming pool, Banbury, UK. Three double-width lanes make for a frustrating swim.","Spiceball Leisure Centre swimming pool, Banbury, UK",true,null,"1:29","\u002Fpool\u002Fspiceball-leisure-centre",291,"Not a great lap swim experience. The double-width lanes make the session feel more like a public splash than a lane swim, the water looks cloudy from microbubbles, and there is quite a chlorine taste.",{"title":6,"description":46},"3","m",{"loc":64,"lastmod":71},"2026-07-18","Oxfordshire","pool\u002F291.spiceball-leisure-centre",[],"Indoor","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.leisurecentre.com\u002Fspiceball-leisure-centre","KEYdCc9PkU4v_BEfbp_2wfVhhXvPnEopDKxsh7doV0E",[79,83],{"title":80,"path":81,"stem":82,"children":-1},"Ashby Leisure Centre","\u002Fpool\u002Fashby-leisure-centre","pool\u002F292.ashby-leisure-centre",{"title":84,"path":85,"stem":86,"children":-1},"Centennial Sportsplex","\u002Fpool\u002Fcentennial-sportsplex-nashville","pool\u002F290.centennial-sportsplex-nashville",1789678150873]