Sunderland Aquatic Centre

Heading home from Newcastle, I swing via Sunderland to tick another UK 50m pool off the list. This time it's a proper full 10 lane Olympic spec pool, sat right on the bend of the River Wear in the shadow of the Stadium of Light North Stand, home of Sunderland AFC.

Before that, I make a quick stop for a look at the iconic Angel of the North, the awesome 20m tall, 54 metre wingspan steel sculpture by Antony Gormley. It has sat there through nearly 30 years of North East weather and still looks every bit as impressive as the day they put it on the hill at the gateway to Tyneside.

I arrive at the pool not quite realising just how close it is to the stadium, separated by little more than the road that wraps around the ground. If I'd planned this better, and Sunderland and West Brom were still in the same league, I could have worked in a game, a swim and a stay at the Hilton that sits right next to both.

After figuring out which car park to use and admiring the funky mesh mine vent covers, I head into reception, pay the very reasonable entrance fee, then get out to poolside. This is a proper Olympic spec swim venue. It has a bit of that Ponds Forge and London Aquatics Centre vibe, with the high central lighting soffit running the full length of the pool. The main pool sits alongside a 25m warm up and diving pool. Unfortunately there aren't many 50m lane swim sessions and today it's in the more common 25m format, but there is still something very impressive about more than 20 lanes stretching away in front of you.

Because it's a lunchtime session, only a few lanes are open and the 'fast' lane is on the far side of the floating boom. Annoyingly they've made it double width, although the two guys already in there are holding a decent pace so from that point of view it's fine. My issue with double width lanes is that once you get more than four or five people in there, it usually turns into chaos. Passing mid length is easy enough, but near the wall people start cutting across and you end up gliding in, waiting to see which side they pick. It also adds a couple of metres to every length as you drift across the width while circle swimming, so the lap pace is always slightly off.

I jump in and get going. The water is perfect, cold and clear. I'm planning the usual 3.2km session but I'm feeling a bit fatigued today, which might have something to do with the complimentary Peroni in the Hilton Newcastle lounge the night before. I work through an opening 1.6km, then finish with a mix of 200s and 100s.

It's a brilliant swim venue and exactly the sort of pool I want to tick off on this challenge. I just wish there were more chances to swim it long course.