ENGLAND
- London
Chelsea
Sports Centre(Kensington)
SGOL Link
D+
25 metres, great place to practice
for an open water swim.
No lane ropes and no pace clock. Have
fun dodging dozens of wild English children and their pram pushing Sloane
Ranger mums while they swim vertically across the pool in front of you. No
equipment allowed (see details)
When I pulled out my Zoomers, the life
guard screamed at me like I was planting a car bomb under a lorry full of
Protestants.
"No, no, no! Ma'am, we
can't have you wearing those in the pool!"
Their excuse was security.
Pulling gear was out of the question too, and goggles required a furious consultation
with upper management. Thanks for being so accomodating and now it's no surprise
that Michelle Smith took steriods.
- YMCA
SGOL Link
B+
25 meters, six lanes and they're all
roped, and paceclocks. Plus, it's a quick walk from the Tube. (Russell Square,
I think)
No equipment allowed, but kickboards
are provided.
There's a Masters
team that I never hooked up with because its workouts were either at night,
during my showtime or on Sunday morning, during my sleeptime. If you have
a Y card, the first five workouts are free and then a cover charge of 6.10
pounds kicks in. Approximately ten US dollars to workout alone and without
paddles or Zoomers.
