Sunday, 14 December 2008

Dawn Fraser Baths, Elkington Park, Balmain

The oldest swimming pool and swimming club in Australia, now named after Australian swimming legend and long -term Balmain resident, Dawn Fraser. 

Fraser grew up in Balmain, learned to swim here and was spotted by coach Harry Gallagher here at age 13. A Heritage Building, it is on the National Trust and on the Register of the National Estate. It is a salt water tidal pool on Sydney Harbour. It was built in the early 1880s. The first water polo match in Australia was played here about 1888. There's a great set of photos on flickr - here. The ones below are mine.

 
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2 comments:

  1. freefalling5:56 pm

    i like your swimming blog.
    i have a pair of gills, too.

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  2. Unknown12:40 pm

    What a wonderful Blog. I LIVE swimming esp POOLS. We have a few good ones here near where I live on the North Coast NSW and my great uncles are said to have dynamited Mahon Pool Maroubra originally. Thank you for these images. Yrs. L.

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