The Alan Higgs Centre

Joined by fireman Sam (Luke) for a sunny but chilly Saturday morning drive to the new 50m pool in Coventry. This one’s been on my list for a while—it’s the replacement for the old Coventry city centre 50m pool, which I swam back in June 2017 (pool #11!). That pool has since closed and, as I understand it, now serves as some sort of events venue for the local university.

The journey wasn’t without hiccups—took a wrong turn and ended up on a 15-minute detour down the M69—but we finally made it. The car park was packed, which had me worried about how busy the pool might be. Turns out there’s an Ultimate Frisbee competition in the sports hall, and the pool itself was fairly quiet.

Picked up a swim session pass for the bargain price of £5.60. The receptionist offered an upgrade to the leisure suite for just £4 more—complete with sauna access—, we declined - probably a mistake! We're given RFID wristbands to scan into the pool and operate the lockers—a brilliant system.

Quick change in the “changing village” (why does every pool in the UK with communcal changing use this term now?) and out onto the pool deck. The pool hall is massive with a Scandinavia sauna style and has a very serene, chilled vibe. The 50m pool looks incredible, and the air temperature on deck is really warm—fingers crossed for competition-cold water.

The setup is perfect: eight 50m lanes with a movable floor set at a consistent 2m depth. It’s a quiet session, with about two people per lane. Luke and I settled into lane five, sharing it with one average and one slower swimmer, things should sort themselves out once we make a start. Thankfully, the water temperature was spot-on—cold enough for a proper swim.

I woke up with a stiff neck, and my left shoulder wasn’t feeling great, so I kept things nice and calm. The relaxed atmosphere wasn’t suited for an intense splashy session anyway, so I worked through an easy pace 3,200km swim.

Another UK 50m pool checked off the list! Will definitely return for another swim here, might even plum for the £4 spa upgrade next time!

Today is also the first time i've remembered to charge and bring my GoPro for the 'underwater' view - I might be taking this all a bit too far!

The sun's still out so off home to take the dog for a cappuccino!