The famous Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge are just some of the city’s icons, but its pools are also a big draw. In fact, Australia’s biggest coastal city has more ocean pools than any other in the world. “Sydney’s big collection of pool locations in one city is very unique,” says Marie-Louise McDermott, who has written extensively about the history of Sydney’s sdy pools.
The pools were built to help people who didn’t know how to swim stay safe at the beach. They were a refuge from strong waves and sharks, which was a major concern at the time. “The early ocean pools were also designed as places for recreational and competitive swimming,” she says. The first were formed by men’s swimming clubs in the late 19th century, and women followed with their own associations. Swimming clubs needed a safe place for their members to practice their strokes, away from strong surf and dangerous rocks.
During the Depression era in the 1930s, money was made available through unemployment relief schemes to councils to build more ocean pools. In Sydney, this included Mahon Pool in Maroubra and North Curl Curl Beach Pool. Locals also worked on the construction of the pools themselves, helping to earn an income as well as providing a community service.
“Ocean pools were a bit of a novelty at the time,” says McDermott. But they’ve become less popular with the rise of public pools and aquatic centres, which can offer more structured programs and hygienic conditions. Those facilities are also often closer to homes. Those factors mean that while nine out of 10 Australians live within 20 minutes of a public pool, access is not equally spread across the country.
Keeping your sdy pools warm throughout the year can be a drain on both the environment and your energy bills, but there are ways to make it easier – without the extra cost. With summer approaching, it’s important to take a look at your pool heating system to ensure you’re prepared for the warmer months ahead.
The sdy pool’s troubled gestation is a reminder of the challenges in trying to build such an iconic project. It took almost two years to get the project off the ground, and construction was halted last year when the government withdrew its $10m grant because of design issues. Tink argues that the issue isn’t just about the project itself but about how it has been handled. A lot of sdy pool’s problems stem from the same sources: roadblocks in development applications and the need to maintain strict environmental requirements, combined with an overzealous focus on gender equality.