For 200 years, Sydney’s sdy pools have been the city’s most beloved swimming retreat. Located along the city’s beaches and harbour, these rock pools, once known as bogey holes, beckon people from all walks of life. Children play beside their grandparents, swim teams run laps, and people of all ages find the salty water a tonic, an elixir of youth, and a place of belonging.
The sdy pools, some of them heritage-listed, are a reminder of the past but they’re also looking to the future. They are sheltered refuges where the essential salty rhythm of Sydney life continues. And, for some swimmers, they provide a sense of safety and security when the city’s beaches aren’t safe to swim.
Across Australia, nine in 10 people live within 20 minutes of a public pool facility, according to the Australian Pool Association. But, not all pools are equal. Some are private, some cost more to use, and some, like the sdy pool in Mosman, are only open seasonally.
A new wave of young locals have rediscovered the pools, as have visitors from all over the world. In the meantime, councils continue to struggle with funding. They face rising sea levels, dwindling maintenance funds and the challenge of attracting enough swimmers to make them sustainable.
Tucked into the base of cliffs and rocks at the edges of nearly all Sydney’s beaches, sdy pools are part of Australia’s long love affair with sea bathing. From the city’s iconic Bondi Icebergs to its quieter, rocky Coogee Pool, the unique tidal pools are a part of the country’s heritage. They offer swimmers a chance to experience the full range of Sydney’s coastal landscape, from wild waves to calm waters.
While the early-20th-century willingness to dynamite rocks, destroy habitats and build clean concrete walls would not pass environmental tests today, some sdy pools are working hard to mitigate the damage. At Fairy Bower, next to Cabbage Tree Bay in Manly, scientists are recreating homes for tiny creatures displaced by the pool’s construction.
Other sdy pools are undergoing major refurbishments, including the historic Elkington Park pool. The reopening in September 2021 will bring new water polo lights and solar panels, as well as engineering works to raise the decking floor to combat rising sea levels. But Tink isn’t satisfied that the project is on track, saying that a $10m grant meant for regional women’s sports muddied what should have been a straightforward restoration of an historic inner-city pool.