Winchester Sport & Leisure Park

It's the 6th of January and my third swim of 2025 - and the first new pool on the list for the new year! My New Year resolution is to add 50 pools this year! Let's see how that goes!

I'm in Winchester, with its impressive medieval cathedral, home of the Magna Carta and once upon-a-time capital of England.

It's cold, dark morning and raining - the worst rain, that freezing fine mist that clings to you!

I arrive at the pool. The car could do with a charge ahead of a long drive later, and I noticed on the ZapMap app last night that there are charge points at the leisure centre. I circle the car park to locate a charging station around a quiet corner. I've never used this charger brand before; the lesser-known charging brands are hit-and-miss - this one proves to be just so. I stand in the rain for 10 minutes plugging in, unplugging and plugging in again, trying to get this thing working - I persevere as the issue seems to be with the card machine - Eventually, we have green lights, and I head off into the leisure centre.

I've pre-booked the 7:35 am 50m lane session. The Everyone Active app and booking process are not the best, but I manage to scan myself in through the electronic gates and into the 'shoes off' changing village - I like this idea, but only when they provide somewhere to sit at the entrance to take your shoes off - and the floor is actually clean - and I can remember not to put my shoes on in the cubicle when I get out!

Arrive on the pool deck and find the pool set up with eight 50m lanes and the floor set at 2m pool depth. A club session occupies five lanes with three public lanes to the far side. I'm aware of people sitting waiting and ready to swim; my booking is for 7:35 am, which is quite specific, so I suspect they are quite strict on session times - and strict they are. At 7:30, the lifeguard blows a whistle, and it's everyone out! Much to my disappointment, they removed lane ropes to make double-width lanes - urrff. A quick chat with others, and it sounds like no one likes this - the lifeguard also agrees and doesn't understand why they do it - it makes it easier for people to pass, apparently -, but in reality, it just causes more confusion!

Make a start. It's not going to be a fast swim with other lane traffic, constant overtaking, and each length being 52m due to these ridiculous double-width lanes! As they are seemingly very strict on session times, I decide to plod through the 50 minutes remaining and see how far I get.

The water is at perfect temperature, the pool depth is set just right (it makes a difference!), the water is crystal clear, and there is a great digital time/pace clock.

Keep swimming until the whistle, and finish up at 3,300m.

Get changed - forget not to put my shoes on in the cubicle! Get a few looks as I walk through the changing village in my Barbour boots! Then out to find a fully charged car! I didn't expect it to be fully charged as I thought it was a slow charger - I also didn't expect it to cost £38.63 for a 46% charge!

A quick stop at Pret in Winchester for a coffee and cinnamon bun (I've somehow ended up with two!), then two-hour drive west to the office in Clevedon.