Pool Reviews

Wollondilly Leisure Centre – Picton, NSW 2571

Picton Pool

My experience in the pool

Getting there, getting in, getting changed

There are trains to Picton from Sydney, and buses from nearby places like Camden, but the pool is actually some way from the centre of Picton, almost in the next town – Tahmoor.

Nothing remarkable about getting into or out of the water at Picton pool.

Good showers in spacious changing rooms which seemed to lead also to the indoor pool here.

Other practicalities

Pool closed for winter.

Entrance fee $5.50 in 2017-18.

50m Olympic Pool outdoors and smaller indoor pool.

History and stories about this pool

Local press clippings I found on the Trove website speak of a pool in Picton as early as 1934-5, with talk of its popularity leading to 4000 users in the first season and as many as 100 season ticket holders on top of that. The 1930s pool was built by volunteer labour, apparently, but it’s not clear whether it was on the same site as the current leisure centre.

Fast forward to the 1950s and there was talk in the local paper of an Olympic pool that would ‘put Picton on the map’ – that almost certainly was on the same site as today’s pool, and the leisure centre website has a photo which may well date from around this era on its home page, though the memorial plaque on the wall by the pool suggests it may have been well into the 1960s before the Olympic pool was opened.

The Picton Swimming Club website picks up the story from 1995, when the outdoor pool was heated for the first time. “making club competition more enjoyable for the entirety of the summer season”.

In 2003, Shane Gould opened the newly refurbished – and renamed – Wollondilly Community Leisure Centre, with the indoor pool allowing the swim club year-round training.

What’s your story? Any memories of swimming here? 

Any stories to tell? Or did you just have swimming lessons in days gone by?

Whatever you have to say, however brief, I’d love to hear from you and will add any stories to this section of the site as and when I receive them.  Add your comment or story under ‘Leave a Reply’ below.

Links to other articles on this pool

Possibly because of the changing name for Picton’s pool, I didn’t find any other contemporary articles or blogs on the pools here.

Coffee, tea or milkshake after the swim?

Someone I spoke to at the centre said there was a coffee shop somewhere near the Mitre 10 across the road, and you could get a coffee in the leisure centre kiosk, but I wanted to do my usual seeking out of a good coffee shop in the nearby township. I opted for Picton rather than Tahmoor, and came across a rather nice place in the Main Street …. there are apparently coffee shops of the same name and with same owner also in Camden and Mittagong.

R Coffee Company (RCC) – 150 Argyle St, Picton, NSW 2571

Open Daily: 6am-3pm Mon-Fri; 7am-2pm Sat; 8am-2pm Sun

Coffee in Picton

It bit more than my usual half hour max walk from the pool, but Picton is a nice little place to check out after your swim. They serve up a decent Campos coffee and it was nice to be able to eat some coffee cake with that. Double dosage of my post swim coffee.

Clean hipster feel, but friendly with it and very good coffee.

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