Pool Reviews

Parkes Aquatic Centre – Parkes, NSW 2870

Parkes was named after the town's founder, who came from Coventry, hence its twinning with that industrial city! My experience in the pool My swim at Parkes Aquatic Centre was a bit of a surprise. I had thought outdoor pools in country Australia were not generally open till November and many of them stay shut if the air temperature isn't forecast to rise above 25C, or some such random heatwave number that this Pommy regards as ridiculous. But there we were driving slowly past Read more [...]

Kyeemagh Baths – Kyeemagh, NSW 2216

Kyeemagh means 'beautiful dawn' in the local aboriginal language. My experience in the pool Kyeemagh Baths don't get the best write-up of Sydney's swimming enclosures and many I spoke to on Botany Bay say they never go near the place. Certainly, until the day I finally got in the water at Kyeemagh, I had never seen anyone even paddling in the water here. The first problem is that unless you pick your tide - and high tide is the only real option at Kyeemagh - you have ankle deep water Read more [...]

Killcare Rock Pool – Putty Beach, NSW 2257

My experience in the pool The best time to come to Killcare ring of stones rock pool is at high tide on a calm day. Then, locals tell me, it's like being in a swimming pool. I almost made it on both counts, so managed a bit of a splash around on my back, but didn't really get to do a lap or even turn those arms over for freestyle or back stroke. I had noted down high tide times but got snarled up in traffic through Sydney so by the time I got to Killcare, I'd missed the high by about an Read more [...]

Sandringham Baths – aka Vanston Baths, NSW 2219

My experience in the pool It was great to be back in the ocean water for my first swim of the new season at Sandringham Baths, which also seem to be called Vanston Baths, judging by the signposts near the pool. This is yet another of those netted enclosures on Botany Bay, but Sandringham is the most southerly (unless you count Kurnell) of that series of bathing areas that starts with Kyeemagh in the north and includes Brighton, Monterey and Ramsgate, with just the Dolls Point enclosure Read more [...]

Lambton Swimming Centre – near Newcastle, NSW 2299

My experience in the pool Lambton Swimming Centre only reopened four days before my visit in late August and I don't think word had got around the locals yet because I had the whole 9-lane 50m pool to myself for the whole 22 laps I did. Ideally all outdoor pools would stay open all year round, but if you do need to close for winter, do it the Lambton way, with only a couple of months shut before the doors reopen in the last 10 days of August. As with any outdoor pool that reopens Read more [...]

Glenbrook Swim Centre – Glenbrook, NSW 2773

My experience in the pool Glenbrook Swim Centre has one of the nicest Olympic pools I've swum in since beginning this outdoor swim quest. I always love the way so many outdoor pools in Australia have gum trees lining the edge of the pool or grounds, and with Glenbrook being in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, there are eucalypts all along one side and down at one end. As you walk through the car park towards the pool entrance, you get that wonderful wafting of eucalyptus in Read more [...]

Macquarie University Sport & Aquatic Centre – NSW 2109

My experience in the pool Swimming at Macquarie University Aquatic Centre was a bit like coming home from one of those holidays when you haven't had a decent coffee for two weeks (more on the coffee at Macquarie University later, by the way). My first chance in about six weeks to stretch out and do laps in a 50m outdoor pool so it was bound to feel good. The Olympic pool at Macquarie Uni is a classic Australian outdoor pool, with gum trees down at one end and on the slope just beside Read more [...]

Little Street Baths – Forster, NSW 2428

My experience in the pool The Little Street Baths in Forster are a funny spot. With such a fabulous ocean pool just ten minutes' walk away, why would anyone ever want to swim in these baths, you might think? I like the idea of netted swimming enclosures in Sydney along the George's River or Port Hacking when locals might feel it's just a bit too far to get to the beach and swim in a real rock pool, but here at Little Street in Forster, it really is close to the town itself. Still, I Read more [...]

Tuncurry Rockpool – Tuncurry, NSW 2428

Tuncurry means 'plenty of fish' in local Aboriginal language My experience in the pool Tuncurry Rockpool would not count as a rock pool in most people's definitions of the term. There are no rocks anywhere, unless you count the material used to build the harbour wall, and it is more a netted beach than a pool as such. Still, for my ocean pools site, which has now expanded into any outdoor swimming spot (as long as it's safe or protected), Tuncurry Rockpool counts. It is a funny place, Read more [...]

Black Head Ocean Baths – NSW 2430

My experience in the pool Black Head Ocean Baths ticked all my boxes. The pool is nearer 30m than 50m but that's a good enough lap length, and with the surf pounding just beyond the pool wall, a pod of dolphins darting about in the bay near the pool, a friendly local to talk to, and best of all a local community fully behind the preservation of their fantastic facility, putting on time, money and labour to keep it going. So go to Black Head Ocean Baths and put a donation in the box by the Read more [...]