First 60 Minute Swim

I started swimming 20 years ago. When I first visited the Wycombe Sports Centre I could just about manage a width in the shallow half of the pool. It was a few weeks before I made the transition to the deep half to swim the 25 m length. When I moved to Wendover I still made the 25 minute journey on a Saturday morning.

A few years later, and by the time the pool opened at the leisure club at the new Posthouse Hotel (now the Holiday Inn), I was up to 20 minutes plus of non stop swimming. Only five minutes away, the new pool was luxury, although only small. But it meant I could go every Saturday.

When the membership fees of the leisure club escalated, I made the move to the Maxwell Pool in Aylesbury. Still quite convenient with adult only swimming on a late Saturday morning. But it could get quite crowded. I also made the discovery of goggles and my style improved immensely as a result. And swimming for 30 minutes became normal.

But the major change happened six years ago when I went onto 4 days a week at work. At the same time a beautiful brand new pool opened in Aylesbury. My day off was every Wednesday so I was able to go every midweek morning. There were lanes for proper swimmers and most times I have had a lane to myself for a good part of each session. So 40 minutes became 50 minutes where I have stuck for the past four years. I had worked out that this was comfortably more than a mile and I was happy at that distance.

That is until a few months ago when I started alternating crawl with my normal breaststroke. At first crawl was very hard, but the last couple of sessions I have found it slightly easier and increased each 100 meter section to 150 meters. The time seems to pass quicker slotting in a period of crawl every ten minutes. Recently I have been up to 55, then 58 minutes and this week passed the 60 minute barrier for the first time. I did feel it the next day, but then I always do.