The end of summer holidays at Petersham Pool

Last week when I paused at the end of a lap, I noticed three of the morning regulars scanning the pool for a spot.

There were swimming lessons in lanes one and two with children pushing and gliding or doing torpedoes as it's called today and learning to breathe in and bubble out.

The rest of the pool was full of mothers and fathers and grandparents and teenage boys racing each other and a girl with a tattoo on her shoulder doing slow breaststroke in the fast lane.

"It's like Pitt Street this morning," I heard one of the regulars say, and he reminded me of how I felt when I returned to the pool in early January and had to share a lane.

But like most things in life I learnt to adapt and realised it was nice to see so many people enjoying their local pool and watching the kids at lessons get more confident each day.  It's what public pools are for, to be shared by everyone!

And now the Australia Day long weekend is over and adults and kids are back at work and school, the morning order and tranquility has returned to Petersham Pool.

The future of Petersham's Fanny Durack Aquatic Centre

Petersham Pool closed yesterday for winter. We now wait to see what its future will be. Will it be redeveloped into a 25-metre, 8 lane pool?  Will it continue as it is or will it close forever?

Most of the locals who swim regularly at the patched-up, 49-year-old pool would like to see it remain as it is. They are not keen to have it reduced from 33-metres to 25, and hope that its leaks and cracks can be repaired rather than having to rebuild a totally new pool.  On the Marrickville Council website, Labor councillor, Petersham resident and swimmer, Laura Wright says a priority for her first term on Council was the repair and upgrade of Petersham Pool

When I rang Marrickville Council I was advised that the future of the pool and the possible redevelopment  will be discussed at the 17 April council meeting.  Local sources tell me that as a new council will be elected in September, the current council are not likely to commit a future council to a major project. At the same time they said that the Green-dominated council are in favour of community swimming pools so they are not likely to vote to close down the pool.

So until then we will just have to sit back and wait and see. Stay tuned.

Petersham Pool re-opens for the summer season

As local Insey informed me, Petersham Pool (Fanny Durack Aquatic Centre) re-opened last weekend. It appears that the redevelopment that was meant to be carried out over winter has been postponed.

A life guard at the pool said Marrickville Council has put the plans back a year. So for all us locals who are quite fond of our daggy, patched-up pool in the park, it's good news.

The 33-metre pool is a warm 28 C at the moment. You can swim from 6.30am to 7pm Monday to Saturday and from 8am-6pm on Sundays. Hope to see some of the regulars back there including Lu, long-time Petersham resident and patron of the pool.

An Australia Day dip at Petersham Pool

A morning dip at our local pool was a nice way to start Australia Day. In the water I met the very tanned Joe, appropriately attired for a swim on 26 January.

It's a pretty relaxed place - Petersham Park Pool or I should say the Fanny Durack Aquatic Centre as it is officially called.

It was also nice to bump into Margo and her husband Steve, one of my Writer's Journey friends.

Happy Australia Day birthday to my niece Mary who turned 16 today, my aunty Mary, my friend Edwina and Bruce's mate Aussie Bob.

Peaceful Petersham Park Pool

Yesterday morning when I went for a walk around the lovely Petersham Park I looked in on the pool. What I discovered was a very peaceful scene of about seven swimmers slowly lapping up and down the 33-metre pool.

With my regular swimming spot - Leichhardt Pool - crowded with holiday-makers at this time of year, I decided to switch to Petersham Pool. I will swim there until everyone goes back to work and order and rhythm is restored to the morning lapping environment at the 50-metre Leichhardt Pool.

Officially known as the Fanny Durack Aquatic Centre, the 48-year-old inner-west complex was renamed after the champion Australian swimmer in 1999. Fanny was the first woman swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal at the 1912 Stockholm Games.  In her latter years she lived in Douglas Street, Stanmore up the hill from the Petersham Park Pool as it was originally called.

While there were a few more than seven swimmers at the pool this morning I had a lane to myself, which made for a very pleasant swim in the somewhat patched-up, ageing pool. At the end of my session I had a nice chat with Uta, visiting from Germany and her daughter Bettina from Stanmore.

As well as swimming laps in the early mornings Bettina takes her children to the inner-west centre. She describes the pool as "a luxury because it's not too crowded". "It's not 50-metres but 33-metres is a good compromise," she adds.

Another swimmer I met recently at the new Annette Kellermann Aquatic Centre at Enmore is also a fan of the slightly grungy Petersham pool. Its appeal to Sue is that it reminds her of the 33-metre pools she swam in as a child growing up in country NSW.

With historic Petersham Park just outside the complex, the centre is surrounded by majestic established trees. On Saturdays during the cricket season the sound of willow on ball by Randwick-Petersham club players adds to the gentile atmosphere.

If you want to experience Petersham Pool in its original state, and 33-metres in length then you will need to drop by before it closes on March 31.  In mid-year it is expected that Marrickville Council will begin work on upgrading the site and redeveloping the main pool into a 25-metre, 8-lane pool. Among a number of additions and changes there will also be a new toddlers' pool and kiosk/cafe. Fanny Durack Aquatic Centre is at 1 Station Street, Petersham, a five minute walk from the station.

The pool in the park at Petersham

Life seems to slow down a pace or two when you enter Petersham Park Pool or rather, Fanny Durack Aquatic Centre, as it was renamed in 1999. Very popular with families with young children, the 48-year-old complex includes a 33-metre pool and a children's wading pool. No one swims particularly fast at this inner west pool but they enjoy diving in and doing a few leisurely laps.

The relaxed mood of the place reflects its location within the grounds of the 123-year-old Petersham Park and oval, where in 1926 18-year-old Don Bradman scored 110 in his first appearance in grade cricket. Some of the old-world charm of the park with its picket fence, bandstand and avenue of trees carries through to the pool. But the pool also has a touch of inner city grunge. On one side old camphor laurel trees overlook the pool; on the other side, the outlook is the backs of ageing terrace houses, one decorated in Buddhist flags.

If Sarah "Fanny" Durack was alive today Petersham Pool would have been her local. She lived up the hill from the pool in Douglas Street, Stanmore. It was her local connection, and that it was considered a scandal that no pool in Australia had been named after the first Australian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming, that Marrickville Council renamed the pool in her honour.

As well as being a record-breaking swimmer, Fanny Durack was one of a number of early 20th century swimmers who developed the Australian crawl stroke, now known as freestyle. Fanny and team-mate Mina Wylie (of Wylie's Baths fame) almost didn't make it to the 1910 Stockholm Olympics as at that time swimming in NSW was strictly segregated. Rose Scott, President of the NSW Ladies Amateur Swimming Association (NSWLASA) said it was immodest for them to appear among men in attire so scant that they would be embarrassed to wear it in their own homes. Fortunately a public outcry and a change of heart among members of the NSWLASA allowed both Fanny and Mina to compete. When Fanny returned victorious from Stockholm she commented that, "the objections to members of both sexes swimming together exists only in this section of the earth, and is strained prudery".

A champion of women's rights, Fanny was at loggerheads with swimming officials at different times in her six-year swimming career in which she held 12 world records. After retiring from the sport in 1918 due to appendicitis, Fanny took up coaching. She would have been very at home at the pool in the park at Petersham. No doubt she could have taught the laid-back swimmers who frequent this pool a technique or two.

Plans are before Marrickville Council to upgrade Fanny Durack Aquatic Centre to replace the 33-metre pool with a 25-metre pool, add a 15-metre program pool, refurbish the foyer and changing rooms and add a new deck and cafe. Stayed tuned.