In 2019, I did a virtual swimming challenge every month. 2.5km or 100 lengths of a standard pool every month and double that in June and October. December was going ok. I’d done 40 lengths before I went to York and I wanted to do another chunk while I was there because I like to swim.
There’s a great 50m pool in York, virtually in the city centre. Yearsley Pool was built in 1908 by Rowntree’s, the sweets people, and is still in operation today, although with a certain amount of modernisation.
The pool itself is built of brick. Other than the lava pools in Iceland, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a pool that isn’t tiled. There are lockers and changing cubicles down each side, ladies on the left, men on the right, showers at the short end and because reception opens right onto the poolside, you have to take your outdoor shoes off as you pay. Learn from me and take your socks off at that point as well. Pool sides are wet.
It was a little odd that you go down a couple of steps to the actual edge of the pool. As you walk out of the changing cubicles, the water seems a long way down but once you’re in, you stop noticing that weird ledge.
On a Monday morning, which is when I was there, it was quiet. I shared the pool with a dozen or so retirees. Of course I did. Who else is swimming on a Monday morning? And I say quiet – the far lane was occupied by an aquarobics group and their Christmas music. I loathe and abhor Christmas music. The baby Jesus himself would wail at Christmas songs. They are the worst.
I like a 50m pool. I don’t get to swim in one often. The London Aquatic Centre is spectacular but I don’t seem to get out to Stratford very often. Reykjavik’s Laugadalslaug is great but given hotpots, I tend to lounge in hotpots rather than swim lengths. I’m good in Borgarnes, which has a 25m outdoor pool with views across to Snæfellsjökull – I swim sets of ten lengths alternating with visits to the middle hotpot. I’m not very good at seeing that a 50m pool is twice the size of a standard 25m pool but I felt it at Yearsley.
I did 30 lengths. They were an effort. By length 18 I was tired; by 22 I wasn’t sure I’d get back to the shallow end alive. I took a break after every two lengths. 50m is such a long way! And I swim in neoprene training gloves which give me webbed fingers. You swim better but it works your arms and shoulders harder. 1500m in gloves is exhausting!
There was a man swimming front crawl. He was making it look like hard work, literally slapping the water on each stroke, breath coming as either a gasp or a grunt or a moan on every other stroke. Slapping the water doesn’t propel you. Did anyone ever teach you to swim because that looks really inefficient?
I decided to experiment and within seconds I discovered that I could keep up – catch up – even overtake – while swimming a lazy doggy paddle using only my arms. I love doggy paddle. My legs refuse to join in front crawl and doggy paddle is such hard work that I feel like I can feel the muscles growing right there and then. In fact, I could wait until he was a third of the way down the pool before paddling after him and still be back first, breathing undisturbed by my exertions. So much for being tired. I was tired because I was trying to swim too far too fast. I hope that man takes up Yearsley’s offer of swimming lessons for adults because he seemed to be wearing himself out for nothing.
30 lengths accomplished. That’s 60 lengths of a standard pool, which means, added to the 40 I’d already done, that I’d finished my December total. Yay!
But then I got home and read about the pool. It’s not a 50m pool. It’s a 50 yard pool which means I was six lengths short. Six. I had to find time to get down to a pool again before Christmas to finish off those six. How very annoying! If I’d known in advance, I could have done that extra distance on that Monday instead of ambling York for two hours with all my luggage.
With the true distance in mind, it’s still a great pool in a great location and if I’m ever in York again, I’ll pop in for another session.