Australia’s most populous city stands out on the global landscape with iconic structures such as its opera house and Harbour Bridge; yet another lesser-known aspect makes Sydney truly special: an idiosyncratic collection of ocean pools where world records were once broken and swimming lessons provided to generations of swimmers.
Bondi Icebergs Pool, carved from rock on the south end of famous Bondi beach, has long been known for its open ocean swimming experience. But over 100 other such public seawater pools exist across New South Wales with each boasting its own personality – from tiny triangular Fairy Bower in Manly to historic Wylie’s at Coogee to Olympic-sized South Cronulla; each offers safe havens where children and older swimmers alike can find protection and respite from rougher surf waters.
“This unique phenomenon has evolved due to California’s rugged coastline,” according to Marie-Louise McDermott who has written extensively on this subject and runs All Into Ocean Pools website. “I don’t know of any other area with such a concentration of ocean pools.”
Since the late 1800s, local communities and surf lifesaving clubs have created safe swimming spots as an alternative to open ocean swimming for recreational and competitive swimmers who were concerned about strong waves or shark attacks. “These locations served as safe alternatives,” according to McDermott.
Early pools were mostly constructed manually by surf club members using hand tools to carve pools out of rock. When the Depression struck during the 1930s, councils became involved by using unemployment relief schemes to build more pools. Today’s pools tend to be more sophisticated with safety and accessibility features like wheelchair access and underwater lights; additionally they’re often designed with solar panels, rainwater harvesting systems and natural ventilation in mind for optimal energy efficiency and environmental friendliness.
As swimming becomes ever more popular across Australia, its infrastructure is under strain to meet this rising demand for public pools. Sydney West in particular suffers, having only one public aquatic centre per 100,000 residents according to Guardian Australia analysis of council and census data.
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