Vauxhall Leisure Centre

Start the day with another Hilton breakfast at the Westminster Curio, then take a 20 minute walk over Lambeth Bridge and along Albert Embankment, past the MI6 HQ, to an impressive triangular building just past the bridge under Vauxhall station. I'm joined for the first part by my oldest son, who's enjoying a slightly shorter commute to his architect's office over by Elephant and Castle.

The nearly new (opened in 2018) Vauxhall Leisure Centre sits in the basement of a rather impressive building. Into the modern reception, pay the reasonable £8.40 entrance fee (reasonable for central London), then head downstairs to the tidy changing rooms. Always great to see padlock lockers — mine lives permanently in my bag — then out to the pool deck.

The pool has four 25m lanes, narrow but fine, plus a poolside sauna and steam room. The deck is compact but uses the space well. At the far end a ceiling lightwell does an excellent job of flooding the water with daylight.

It's just before 9 am on a Friday and the pool is busy. The four lanes are split by swim speed, with the fast lane against the nearside wall.

Jump in and make a start, sharing with a couple of other swimmers who are doing a decent pace. I plan a minimum 3.2 km session; not in a rush this morning, so I may extend it slightly.

Finish up with a 4 km swim. Just time to head back to the Hilton for a shower before emails and the drive home — not forgetting to pay the Congestion Charge. Even in the electric Taycan, I still have to pay!

Safety note: toward the end of my swim I become aware that the only lifeguard on duty, seated mid-pool, is drifting off. For about 15 minutes I watch with each lap as he goes through 30-second cycles of slouching back, head tipped toward the ceiling, then a startle and back again. I'm in two minds whether to say something or ignore it. I decide to let it go; I'm sure it's a one-off and that management has a process to monitor this.