Ocean pools in Australia facts for kids

Ocean pools are special swimming spots found along the coast of Australia, especially in New South Wales. Think of them as public swimming pools built right into the rocky coastline. The cool thing about them is that ocean waves can actually wash into the pool, filling them with fresh seawater! These pools come in all different sizes and depths, depending on where they are built. Australia also has many "harbour pools," which are usually fenced or netted in calm harbour areas or river mouths. But these aren't considered true ocean pools because they don't get the ocean waves washing into them.

A Dip into History: How Ocean Pools Began

The historic Bogey Hole in Newcastle

Ocean pools have a long history in Australia, going all the way back to the early 1800s. One of the very first was the Bogey Hole in Newcastle. It was built in 1819 by convicts (people sent to Australia as punishment) under the orders of Commandant James Morisset.

Most ocean pools were built with money raised by local communities or funded by the government. However, a couple were built by private individuals. For example, the Pearl Beach Rock Pool near Gosford was built in the 1920s by a real estate developer to help sell land. And Wylie's Baths in Coogee, New South Wales was created by an entrepreneur named Henry Wylie and his sons.

The famous Bondi Icebergs Pool

In the past, some ocean pools were only for men, and others were only for women and children. Today, Coogee's McIver's Baths, built in the 1860s, is still a special ocean pool just for women and children. It's famous because Olympic swimmers like Fanny Durack and Mina Wylie trained there before winning gold and silver medals at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. Another pool, the Beverley Whitfield Pool in Shellharbour, is named after another Australian Olympic swimmer.

Wylie's Baths, opened in 1907 by Henry Alexander Wylie (Mina Wylie's father), was one of the first ocean pools in Australia where both men and women could swim together.

Learning to swim at Newcastle Ocean Baths in 1953

There are about 100 ocean pools in New South Wales alone! In places like Perth, people have even wanted to build more ocean pools to offer a safer swimming option after shark attacks.

Discovering Australia's Ocean Pools