Tom | Swimming & Coffee – Swimming & Coffee

The Icebergs

Bondi Icebergs is iconic Australia at its best, and it’s one of the most instagrammed pools in the world. As you can tell from the photos I visited on a bright sunny autumn day a couple of weeks ago, but I did swim in a squad through winter for a couple of years and it’sContinue reading “The Icebergs”

Northbridge Baths

Close to the top of the list of what I miss about North Sydney Pool is the deep salty water. Northbridge Baths has plenty of that. The baths are made up of a netted off section of Middle Harbour with plenty of space for splashing about in the shallows and a set of starting blocksContinue reading “Northbridge Baths”

The ABC Pool

ABC Pool looking north with the pool on the left and the harbour on the right

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 crashContinue reading “The ABC Pool”

The Swimming & Coffee Rating System

The first thing to remember is that unlike a proper scoring system, every rating in the Swimming & Coffee Rating System is entirely subjective, and the formula is subject to random change.

End of an Era

I’ve been to the pool most days this week, storing up the memories before the pool closed. I had a magical mid-week swim on Wednesday, having a lane to myself and my thoughts. There was a carnival atmosphere this afternoon, with 40 swimmers (the maximum in the Covid Era) enjoying the final swim session fromContinue reading “End of an Era”