SIMON Duffin isn’t an extreme sportsperson by any stretch of the imagination. But the UK-born former public sector media advisor does enjoy the odd dip in an outdoor pool.
So much so, in fact, that after moving to Kiama, NSW, from Yorkshire three years ago, he set himself the goal of swimming in every ocean pool in NSW.
“I had begun a similar quest in the UK, where there are about 100 outdoor pools,” said the 58-year-old who now lives in Castlemaine. “What’s amazing is that quite a lot of them are in Scotland and the north where it can get freezing.”
Simon had about 25 pools under his belt before emigrating to Australia with his wife.
He fell in love with the variety of pools in NSW “the sense of community around them, and the local history attached to each pool, whether built in the 19th century, or in the other waves (no pun intended) of swimming enthusiasm in the 1920s and ’60s”.
He said the great thing about living on the NSW coast was that there are more than 100 tidal baths, rock pools or ocean baths, where even in the depths of an Australian winter “the water temperatures will be warmer than what we experienced off the coast at Wick in north-east Scotland”.
Someone had already mapped the outdoor pools in NSW, but no one seemed to have a website.
“I couldn’t resist the challenge of swimming in all those NSW tidal baths and recording both my own experience and that of others I meet along the way.”
So Simon did just that and documented his swimming journey, visiting more than 100 pools from Eden in the south to Ballina in the north and writing about them on his website.
“My style is chatting about the people I meet,” he said.
“I love the history of the pools, from the architecture to the stories of the people who come.
“In Port Kembla in the Illawarra I got chatting to a guy who said as a seven-year-old his grandfather brought him to the opening of the pool in 1937.
“Then later when he was working as a steelworker he would come down at lunchtime and eat a sandwich and have a swim with his mates. And now he still swims there, but his lap times aren’t what they used to be.”
The website includes practical details on how to get to the pools, how easy it is to get in the water and where you can get changed before or after your swim, plus a little bit of history to each pool.
“I also invite people who have swum in the pools over the decades to add their stories and add a blog with my own experiences as I swim in them all, one by one.”
There are also tips on where to go after your swim for good coffee #or tea.
If Simon had to pick a favourite ocean pool, it would be Merewether in Newcastle.
“It’s not just about its size.
“I first went in winter when it was cold and it didn’t impress me too much. Then I went back in summer and it was packed.
“But because it is so big it didn’t seem full and everyone was happy and having fun. It was a really friendly environment.”
And while not strictly an ocean pool, another iconic swimming spot is North Sydney Olympic Pool at Milson’s Point.
“I always ask myself ‘What’s the view like when you’re doing backstroke?’ From there you get to see the huge mouth of Luna Park and the Harbour Bridge.”
One thing Simon is not a fan of is having to pay to swim in ocean pools.
“Take Bondi Icebergs, for example. This is really just a place to be seen.
“I personally found it too busy to do laps, and everyone was on their phone sitting around the pool. And I had to pay for the experience.”
Now he has moved to Victoria, where he said there are hardly any ocean pools.
Never one to resist a challenge, Simon – who has published two books, A Cathedrals, Coffee and Tea Tour and Fancy a Cuppa, North Yorkshire – plans to document vintage icons around the state.
“I’m thinking along the lines of ‘Vintage Victoria’ checking out houses, cinemas and the odd pool,” he said. So watch this space.
