I was intending to go to Northbridge Baths today, and I did in fact drive up there and park, but as soon as I got out of the car a fleet of Mosman tractors arrived and out a battalion of 8-10 year olds assembled who quickly took over the whole place. Not wanting to crash some kid’s birthday party I beat a retreat and drove over the bridge to the Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool in the Botanic Gardens instead.
I fear my search for a new Wonder Pool might be over too soon. I’ve run past the ABC Pool many times on my way through the botanic gardens, but have no plausible excuse for never having swum there. It looks lovely from the road above, but it’s even nicer when you get in. Not quite the 6 out of 5 I awarded North Sydney Olympic Pool, but definitely a 5 out of 5.
History
The ABC pool doesn’t have the same immediate sense of history as North Sydney does even though it looks out over the Garden Island Naval Base. It’s a modern complex that dates back to the early 2000’s in its current incarnation.
However there’ve been many harbour swimming holes in the area that had been used for thousands of years. In the 1800’s buildings began to be established and there were eleven different bathing establishments in Woolloomooloo Bay according to Wikipedia, including Mrs Biggs’ Ladies’ Baths (complete with Bathing Machine), and Robinson’s Hot and Cold Baths. In 1858 the city opened the Corporation Baths, which became known as Fig Tree Baths.
The Fig Tree Baths were pulled down in 1903, to be replaced by the some new Ladies’ Baths and Free baths, later extended with an Edwardian structure known as the Domain Baths which had a 1,700 seat grandstand and was suitable for competition swimming.
It was in this incarnation of the pool that Andrew “Boy” Charlton broke the world record for both the 220 yards and the 440 yards, as well as the Australian record for the 880 yards, all on the same day in 1924.
When the Dom, as the Domain Baths had become known, was pulled down in 1968 to make way for an olympic swimming pool, the new pool was named after Boy Charlton and has been the ABC pool ever since. This was the first pool on the site that was an actual pool rather than a harbour enclosure.
The pool was suffering from concrete cancer by the mid 1990’s. A new freshwater pool at Cook & Philip park was built (on the list to review on a wet winter weekend, it’s an inside pool) and there were moves to entirely close the ABC. Thankfully they did decide to replace the ABC and the pool as it is today was built in 2000-2002.
Thanks to Shirley Fitzgerald’s entry in the Dictionary of Sydney for the history of the pool which I plagiarised extensively for this section. Note that there’s also another ABC Pool in Manly which is also on my list of pools to review.
Swimming
The ABC doesn’t have the depth in the deep end that North Sydney had. It’s a standard modern olympic sized pool with 1.2m of depth at the shallow end and 2m at the deep end. The water is treated harbour water which is nice and salty.
I said in my post about North Sydney that salt water gives 1-2 seconds per hundred metres for free. More like 10! I’ve been swimming at Lane Cove during the week which is freshwater and it’s noticeably harder to float. A heavy going 1:56/100m over 2km at Lane Cove last night became a relaxed 1:46/100m today.
The pool was about half full. They allow 10 per lane in these covid times which is denser than some, but most lanes had 3-4 people on this late afternoon in early autumn. There was a double width recreational lane with a few people bobbing about, and a couple of lanes for each speed.
People were friendly, stopped to let each other past. And it was nice to see one of the ex-North Sydney lifeguards working there. In fact I think I recognised a couple of other North Sydney exiles in the water!
I should have come earlier in the day as there was a bit of a chill in the air that discouraged lingering too much, but there are sun-loungers and a large grandstand for sitting on, people watching, seeing and being seen. There was a Swim & Go policy at NSW pools for a while during the peak of Covid, but since February this has been relaxed and you’ve been able to linger with a book or a coffee after your swim.
Coffee
Talking of coffee I’m going to have to come back for another swim to try the café. The Poolside Cafe looks great but it was closed for an event this afternoon.
Ratings
Read the Swimming & Coffee Rating system post to find out more about this highly scientific and objective rating system!
| Overall | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Almost perfect. Do I stop my search now? |
| Speedo Rating | 🩲🩲🩲🩲🩲 This is a lap swimmers’ pool. A slow lane, a couple of medium lanes, a couple of fast lanes, and a wide lane for floating about in. Different speeds, different strokes, different abilities, but everyone was swimming. Perfect. |
| Friendliness & Pool Etiquette | 🏊♂️🏊♂️🏊♂️🏊♂️🏊♂️ People paused at the end to let faster swimmers past. Everyone seemed to be in the right lane for their speed. People were chatting before and after their swims, and there were even some other North Sydney exiles including one of the lifeguards. A lovely atmosphere. |
| Magic | 🪄🪄🪄🪄🪄 This could only be Sydney. Looking out over Garden Island Naval Base and Woolloomooloo it’s certainly a magical spot. Doesn’t quite match North Sydney but I’m not sure anything will. |
| Facilities | 🚿🚿🚿🚿 Well maintained facilities with large changing rooms and individual showers with lots of space. Sun-beds and grandstand for lounging around on. Poolside Cafe. No spa or sauna. Expensive metered parking around Mrs Macquaries Road. |
Practicalities
| Address | 1C Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney 2000 |
| Website | www.abcpool.org |
| Water | Filtered and treated Harbour water |
| Entrance Fee | $6.90 |
| Parking | $9/hour metered street parking in Mrs Macquaries Road |
Swimming & Coffee 