Traditionally as the year draws to a close Binge swimmer ‘s trips to the pool become very rare occasions, and the end of 2015 was no exception. There has been the odd Binge sighting on a Saturday afternoon at the Durham Triathlete session and of course there was the inter-county event but unfortunately nothing has […]

The domestic highlight of the Masters season for the Binge swimmer is the annual pilgrimage to Ponds Forge for the national championships. It’s been a good few years (about 15 actually) since I’ve considered doing a taper for a big event, that’s because it’s been a good few years since I’ve done enough training to […]

I don’t suppose anyone noticed that I’ve been missing from here for a month or 4 but I thought I’d try and resurrect the habit, in light of the looming binge splurge for the Europeans and in a vain effort to do myself justice. I also thought I’d share my comic columns over the last […]

Once upon a time in a galaxy far far away the Binge Swimmer used to enjoy the challenge of a 200m Breaststroke, in fact my PB in the event (2:47) was probably the most satisfying swim I have ever had, (mind that was nearly 30 years ago). Of course 200m breaststroke is not for the […]

Day 5 of the World Masters is always Relay Day, so Lynne and I had a day off to sightsee. Now one of the amazing difficulties we’d encountered during our trip was how difficult it was to spend money. I had been rather worried on Day 1 that I could only source 250 quids worth of […]

Now all this Binge Swimming not doing enough training malarkey (which is perfectly true ) is my excuse (and probably a very valid one) for the fact that my competitive performances often leave quite a lot to be desired. I still have delusions that if I ever manage to get back into the swing or […]

Day 4 started with a minor disaster, I was assaulted by a bottle of Sprite. I can’t remember whether or not I’ve mentioned this before but the “Gulag” is deemed a dry zone and I didn’t fancy my chances of sneaking a few bottles of beer through the security checkpoints, (well the X rays might […]

The Brits are rapidly coming to the conclusion that this is a phenomenal meet, and from a sport point of view probably the best we’ve ever experienced, if you stayed behind you’ve really missed something. The Russian’s have clearly given a lot of thought, planning and money into making the event a success, and the facilities are […]

Despite the 14 hours of travelling to get here the Brits have by and large viewed this trip as a jaunt to another European city and rather than arrive a few days beforehand to properly acclimatise have pretty much jumped right in so the swimming started pretty much immediately. Lynne and I were no different, […]

Ok admit it you’d never even heard of Kazan (or even the Republic of Tatarstan) until FINA in its infinite wisdom chose to award the 2015 World Swimming Championships to this Russian City. So another World Champs comes around and I just can’t resist the urge to pack my Speedo bag, compete in unchartered Bingeswimming […]