Swimming has been part of the Australian consciousness for a long time. In the late 19th century swimming baths were built in capital cities (see
Melbourne City Baths, for example). Rock pools were built along the Sydney coast as job creation schemes during the Great Depression. Modern aquatic centres are built as major competition venues.
And after the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, a golden age of community building resulted in almost every town council and its citizens striving for a community pool, and 50m Olympic pools spread across the suburbs of major cities (I blog regularly about Bexley pool for example, opened in the 1970s).
My mate John travels for work around the towns of the NSW Central West and Riverina, and is partial to a swim. Here's a collection of snaps he's taken of various swimming venues.
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Albury Swim Centre, February 2011 |
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Canowindra February 2011 "At midday I was the first swimmer for the day" |
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Cowra. "28 degree water temp is no good for me. Nice complex though. Toddlers pool is under cover." |
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Gulgong. May 2011 |
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Tumbarumba February 2011 "Very clear, delightfully cool water." |
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Tumut March 2011 |
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Tumut March 2011 |
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Wodonga. Feb 2011. This has been closed down - outrageous! |
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Young February 2011 |
What is that net on the second to last picture? This is an awesome post by the way.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
Spent a lot of time as a kid at Heffron then Botany pools. Good memories !!
ReplyDeleteNot sure about Heffron, but Botany pool is still there, and I have blogged about it in the past
ReplyDeletehttp://swimsallyswim.blogspot.com/2006/10/botany-aquatic-centre.html
Arizona - that's a water polo net. My friend who took the pictures has a daughter who plays.
ReplyDeleteI like the Cowra pool most of these! Great post, thanks!
ReplyDeleteInterested in any guest posts on this website?
ReplyDeleteId love to contribute
Thanks
Scott
Wow I want to visit all of this pools across Melbourne. Perfect getaway place for summer season. Thanks Miss Sally. :)
ReplyDeleteIndeed beautiful collection of public swimming pool here in Melbourne. How I wish I can visit them all for a swimming lover like me.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for posting this, how long did it take you to get all these photos?
ReplyDeleteIt is a very interesting site for swimming in Austrelia. Foreigner should also enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind spending some time in a nice warm swimming pool Down Under, it would be perfect compared to the cold UK weather!
ReplyDeleteChris - Simply Swim
Swimsuits
One of the best things about going to a public pool instead of owning one is that you don't ever need ahwatukee pool service. It is expensive to do both, but if you only swim occasionally, public is the way to go! Thanks so much!
ReplyDelete