Tag Archives: olympic pool

Engadine Leisure Centre – NSW 2233

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Named after a valley in the Swiss Alps…for some reason! My experience in the pool Only three lanes out of nine were in use when I arrived at about 11am on a bright, sunny morning in July for my swim. So there was lots of room for relaxing laps, and even though a few others had come along by the time I was out, we were still few enough to have a lane each, and that always feels like a real privilege. It was a cold morning, though. As I swam my freestyle, I could feel an icy touch on Read more [...]

Sutherland Aquatic Centre – NSW 2232

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The biggest swimming centre in the southern hemisphere, they say. My experience in the pool It was a bright winter’s morning for my swim here. Air temperature quite cool but water a comfortable 25C. There were three lanes free when I arrived at about 10.30am, though by the time I left there were at least two swimmers in each lane. There’s a nice combination of graded lanes (fast, medium, slow) and lanes where you just go the pace you please. I opted for one of the empty lanes Read more [...]

Corrimal Memorial Pool – NSW 2518

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The original home of Streets ice cream in Australia (the town, not the pool!) My experience in the pool I came here the day after the big storms of April 2015 finally abated. For a midweek morning, in a suburban pool, it was quite busy, perhaps with others like me who had cabin fever after four days sheltering from the wind and rain. It’s a heated pool (24C the day I was there) open all year round, and particularly welcome when the ocean baths were still needing a good clearout after Read more [...]

Prince Alfred Park Pool – Sydney, NSW 2010

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Nearest pool to Sydney Central Station in the park named after Queen Victoria’s second son My experience in the pool A beautiful autumn day for this swim. I got in just around 12 noon and there was lots going on, with lessons in a couple of lanes and graded speeds in the other lanes. With just three people in my lane, though, there was no pressure, so I could take it easy, still recovering from my bout of bursitis. It’s a great setting for a swim, with palm trees lining one end Read more [...]

Victoria Park Pool – Sydney, NSW 2050

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A pool in the park, with the beautiful old buildings of the University of Sydney just up the hill My experience in the pool It’s a beautiful pool, with palm trees on the park looking down on you as you swim. This is a very organised pool, too, with three wide, but speed-labelled lanes, and to help guide you into the right lane for your ability, they have a board with average lap times for ‘fast’, ‘medium’ or ‘slow’. I was nursing my tight shoulder so opted for slow, Read more [...]

Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool – Woolloomooloo NSW 2011

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Named after Australia’s 1924 Paris Olympics gold medal winner, who famously beat a world record-holding Swede as a teenage in pools at this site My experience in the pool I visited here with swimming buddy and fellow writer Therese on the pool’s penultimate day of opening before they closed for the 2015 winter. What makes this pool so special is its setting and its history. You’re right on Woolloomooloo Bay, with naval dockyards opposite and the old Navy shipping sheds in sight Read more [...]

The Entrance Ocean Baths – NSW 2261

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The 'Pelican Capital of Australia', where Natalie Imbruglia went to school! My experience in the rock pool At least there was already one guy swimming in this pool when I got there on a cool July afternoon, so I knew it was possible. But he was wearing a wet suit and all I had were my brief bathers, having left at home my wet suit and my goggles. But the warm(ish) afternoon sun made the pool look irresistible, and I couldn’t help thinking: if he can do it, so can I. And there’s always Read more [...]

Cronulla Beach Rock Pool – NSW 2230

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'Place of the pink sea shells' My experience in the rock pool I came here on a bright, sunny morning at the end of April. From the promenade that goes along the beach around the headland, the pool looked inviting in the way all pools do with blue sky and sun on them. The only problem was that this was one week after the Big Storm that had hit Sydney (2015) and the big surf had thrown an enormous quantity of sand into the pool. This meant that in much of the pool the water barely reached Read more [...]

Continental Baths, Wollongong, NSW 2529

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Continental Baths, Wollongong The name Wollongong comes from the  local Aboriginal word for ‘seas of the south’ My experience in the pool This is a pool where people work hard. The main pool is organised into four wide lanes, allowing everyone to swim clockwise with a passing channel down the middle. On a cloudy morning in early February, there were about 10 people in the water, all doing freestyle at a fair lick. I joined two others in one ‘lane’ for my 600m swim – a Read more [...]

Port Kembla Olympic Pool – NSW 2505

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  Famous now for its steel works, but back in 1770 Red Point near Port Kembla was Captain Cook’s first sighting of the East Coast My experience in the pool My first swim here was on a bright but very breezy day in early February. The wind off the sea was so strong that as I swam eastwards it whipped up small waves which made breathing more difficult (though it also just made me improve my head lift each time I came up for air in freestyle). This is a beautiful 50m pool, marked Read more [...]