Sydneysiders may be known for our outdoor culture and sunburnt days, yet many don’t own a pool due to high costs associated with buying one, maintaining one, or other considerations. Yet having your own personal oasis can bring numerous advantages beyond its luxurious look and feel such as health, lifestyle, and financial advantages.
Swimming pools across Australia serve as an important place for us all to learn to swim, exercise and socialise – especially where recreational options are limited. Over one million visits take place annually at public aquatic centres – meaning one pool for every 178,960 Australians!
Pools have long been a symbol of our nation’s vibrant history, dating back to both Indigenous cultures and 19th-century civic pride and thoughtfulness. From natural rock carvings like Manly’s iconic Fairy Bower or explosions by earnest borough fathers in Coogee and South Cronulla dynamiting efforts, each ocean pool embodies its own special place within society: colliding alluring coastline with local folklore, Victorian wisdom (that bathing in seawater was beneficial) and thoughtful public amenity provision.
First Nations peoples swam for millennia in natural rock pools. Convicts were responsible for carving (and sometimes blowing up) the state’s first artificial pools; earnest borough fathers then dug deeper and built better pools to make our love affair with them last two centuries.
Ocean pools may seem like the place for the fit and beautiful, but they also serve as safe harbors for shy swimmers or those living with disabilities. Their seawater is safe for everyone of any age to enjoy while having quality time together as a group or with loved ones.
As Sydney suburbs grew, so too did demand for pools. Unfortunately, Australia’s western suburbs have the worst public pool provision with one pool per 177,960 people and rising costs for new pool construction placing an added strain on councils.
However, our pool infrastructure doesn’t face complete destruction: The North Sydney pool saga serves as evidence. Amid council infighting and allegations of pork barrelling as well as heritage concerns and criticism from swimming bodies, its opening date is now projected for 2025 at best. Meanwhile, community patience is being tested; Independent federal MP Kylea Tink described the project as a “horrible burden”, hoping that Helen Haynes’ anti-pork barrelling bill introduced into parliament will serve as an antidote against future “political follies”. Charging fashion week shows and production companies (far beyond its usual use) might help recoup some of its massive spending costs.
