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’s just as magical on an August evening in the brisk 14C water with waves crashing over the side as it is on a sparkly early March autumn day.

History

Pace clock and stairs up to the cafe and changing rooms

This is one of Sydney’s most historic pools. This site has the most comprehensive history of the pool I can find so I won’t repeat much of it. The pool is synonymous with the winter swimming club that’s been going since local surf lifesavers set it up 1929 to keep fit during winter.

Anyone is welcome to join, but you need to take part in their Sunday morning swimming races for three Sundays out of four between May and September for five years. Historic Rule 15b requires you to write a letter to the club if you’re unable to attend, and they’re pretty rigorous about the requirement. As a result it’s quite a thing to be an Iceberg.

You can join as a social member which has neither the swimming requirement nor the prestige of being a swimming member, but luckily the pool is open to anyone who pays the entrance fee.

Swimming

The Icebergs has a reputation of a place to lounge around in the sun to see and be seen, but it’s also definitely a place to swim. The salt makes it a pleasingly fast pool on a flat day, but at high tide with a bit of a wave on it can be a bit more challenging to stay in a straight line, or even stay in the pool…. When it’s too rough they put a rope across the western end of the pool at the 40m mark.

The lanes are normally double width which makes it easier to avoid collision when waves are crashing over the sides, and there’s plenty of space for overtaking down the middle.

The water is pure Pacific Ocean so the quality varies. After lots of rain it can go a bit green. They treat it sometimes by bunging in some chlorine, but it’s emptied and cleaned every Thursday, sometimes opening again on Thursday afternoons, mostly not – depending on the tide. Check the webcam on their site.

Coffee

The Crabbe hole (named after the owner Andrew Crabbe) has been operating for years. It had a facelift in the last couple of years and is bigger than it used to be and now has some inside seating along with the tables under umbrellas overlooking the pool. Great coffee and food. There aren’t many pools where you might feasibly just come for the café but this is one of them.

Ratings

Read the Swimming & Coffee Rating system post to find out more about this highly scientific and objective rating system!

Overall	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Iconic pool, fast salty water with a bit of excitement when the waves come over the edge, much improved showers and great coffee.
Speedo Rating	🩲🩲🩲🩲 People used to swimming in the neatly regimented lanes of an indoor 50m pool might find this a bit of a shock to the system especially at high tide and it’s a bit rough. It’s definitely a fast pool thanks to the salt, and sometimes the current, and it’s a joy to swim in.
Friendliness & Pool Etiquette	🏊‍♂️🏊‍♂️🏊‍♂️🏊‍♂️ They don’t have slow/medium/fast lane signs out but the lanes are double width which makes overtaking easy enough down the middle. Some days you can rely on the swimmers getting faster the closer you get to the ocean, and other days especially the hot sunny ones in the middle of summer it gets packed in the middle of the day and there are more people floating about.
Magic	🪄🪄🪄🪄🪄 Another pool that could only be Sydney. Magic on a hot sunny day when the water’s clear and blue. Majestic on a stormy winter day when the water lets you know who’s boss.
Facilities	🚿🚿🚿🚿🚿 The bergs has had a facelift since I last swam here regularly. The changing rooms have been upgraded and have hot rain showers and plenty of space to get changed in. There’s a sauna too which is included in the pool entry price, and a gym which needs a separate membership. Plenty of space for lounging around on the concrete platforms between the pool deck and the main level.

Practicalities

Address	1 Notts Avenue, Bondi Beach NSW 2026
Website	www.icebergs.com.au
Water	Pacific Ocean. Emptied and cleaned on a Thursday (closed for the day, sometimes opens in the afternoon after cleaning depending on the tide)
Entrance Fee	$9.00
Parking	Some metered parking in Notts Avenue. Unmetered 2hr parking in the back streets between Tamarama and Bondi. The main beach car park is $8/hr but half of it is being used as a Covid testing centre at the moment.

Bondi 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 blocks and lane ropes a bit further out that float up and down on the tide. It was more or less high tide when I visited so the lane ropes were about four metres off the sea bed.

The trouble was when I was there last Sunday afternoon you couldn’t see the sea bed. In fact I could barely see my hand in front of my face the water was so cloudy. It was really disappointing as it was a lovely sunny day and there hadn’t been much rain during the week before so I was expecting the water to be OK.

It was my second attempt at Northbridge as it was too busy with a kids party on Saturday so I ended up at the ABC instead. I feel I need to come back to Northbridge and maybe it’ll be third time lucky. I swim quite often at Balmoral and have done the Sydney Opera House swim a couple of times so I know that the harbour can be sparkly clear.

Despite the water quality it is pretty special. There aren’t many sorts of pools like this in the world. It’s similar to the chilly Serpentine Lido in London, and there are a couple of other harbour enclosures I plan to try in Sydney.

History

According to this site Northbridge Baths were built in 1924 and were originally 33 yards. The dressing sheds were added in 1927 and the pool area was extended to 55 yards in 1938. Northbridge Swimming Club was founded in 1925 and has been running handicap races on Saturday mornings during the summer season ever since.

It was also briefly (for a couple of weeks only I think) the home of the North Sydney Masters squad late last year who couldn’t swim at North Sydney with their covid restrictions. They’re now at Lane Cove until the renovations are finished.

Swimming

Pool etiquette is the same all over Australia – swim up and down on the left in a clockwise direction. This is pretty widely known, so I’ll give the swimmers here the benefit of the doubt and say that it’s harder to keep to the left when there’s no black line to follow!

The lanes are also quite narrow and the lane ropes are just that – ropes with foam floats every metre or so. Narrow lanes are fine for squad swimming when everyone knows the rules, but this early autumn afternoon was the domain of the head-above-the-water breaststroker who warranted a wide berth to avoid their flailing arms and legs.

With the funky water and the dodgy breaststrokers to navigate I ended up getting out early after only 200m. The changing rooms and hot showers were surprisingly good for a pool that is open to the public without any staff on site, so I had a quick shower and dried off in the sun with my kindle.

Coffee

There’s a kiosk that’s apparently open on Saturday mornings but otherwise it’s a trip up to Northbridge itself for a post-swim coffee.

Ratings

Read the Swimming & Coffee Rating system post to find out more about this highly scientific and objective rating system!

Overall	⭐️⭐️ I’d come back to have a splash and sit in the sun with a book for a bit, but wouldn’t rush back to swim some laps. A pleasant spot but variable water quality and narrow lanes.
Speedo Rating	🩲 I’m sure it’s geared more towards lap swimmers in the early morning, but on this autumnal Sunday afternoon was the domain of the head-out-of-the-water breast-strokers and kids running around and bombing in to cool off. I was the fastest swimmer. Which tells you something.
Friendliness & Pool Etiquette	🙏🙏 No staff on site. Friendly atmosphere with some families. A few local teens hanging around. Not much lane discipline. A place for cooling off rather than serious swimming.
Magic	🪄🪄🪄🪄 Nice spot to spend a leisurely afternoon that could only really be Sydney.
Facilities	🚿🚿🚿 Clean showers and changing rooms. The council must clean them regularly even though there’s no one on site and the pool is free to use. There’s a kiosk run by the swimming club that I understand is open on Saturday mornings. Beach with shelter and BBQ area. Plenty of space on the board walk around the enclosure to lie in the sun with a book.

Practicalities

It’s a harbour pool. Best not to swim after heavy rain. And as the council website says:

Swimmers are to use their own discretion before entering the baths, and to visually inspect the water before swimming. Do not swim if the water is discoloured, smells unusual, or has significant amounts of rubbish or plant litter.
Willoughby Council Website

Address	2 Widgiewa Rd, Northbridge 2063
Website	https://www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au/Council/Venues/Northbridge-Baths
Water	Unfiltered, untreated Harbour water. A bit funky on my visit.
Cost	Free.
Parking	There’s a small free car park at the end of Widgiewa Road and some street parking along the narrow backstreets of Northbridge. Probably hard to come by on a hot summer day.

Widgiewa Road

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 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.

The pool from above — ABC Pool from Mrs Macquaries Chair

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.

Looking back at the pool with the Cafe above

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

Mrs Macquaries Road

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.

⭐️ Overall	Overall rating out of 5 stars.
🩲 Speedo Rating	An approximation of lap-swimability. One speedo suggests the pool was full of boardie and bikini wearers lazing around getting in the way. Five speedos is the maximum rating where you’d find everyone in budgies or swimsuits doing laps.
🏊‍♂️ Friendliness & Pool Etiquette	Every pool starts with 5 out of 5 and loses points every time someone pushes off in front as you’re coming into the wall, gets in the way of the T making it hard to turn, or generally infringes on the rules of Pool Etiquette as amusingly laid down by Mr Ocean Swims himself, Paul Ellercamp. You’d have thought that a 5/5 Speedo Rating would come with a 5/5 Etiquette Rating but not necessarily – as Paul notes, boofheads and dickheads abound.
🪄 Magic	This is what I’m looking for. The magical factor was what gave North Sydney its 6 stars out of 5. It’s a complicated formula that takes into account location and aspect, the depth, clarity and taste of the water, friendliness of staff and lifeguards, and a feeling that “this could only be Sydney”.
🚿 Facilities	Getting the basics right. Points are awarded for warm showers, clean and dry (seriously, how hard is it to install a drain) changing rooms. Points are lost for excessive non-swimming facilities. We’re looking for a pool not a leisure centre. Saunas, Spas, Sun Decks great…. water slides and kid’s splashing pools, no thanks.

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 from 4-5pm on the last day of summer 2021.

It was a beautiful Sydney summer afternoon. Warm and sunny, but not that hot mid-summer oven that turns the pool into a warm bath. Most people swam some laps, but as the hour drew to the close there was a carnival atmosphere as most people hung around the shallow end chatting, not wanting to get out. The lifeguard blew the whistle. And blew it again. And then launched himself into the water to great applause. A final lap of backstroke taking in the view and a reluctant exit to the showers.

The Mayor and the Council put on some drinks and cheese platters, and it was really great to chat to the regulars and the lifeguards.

I’ll miss the deep water – 4m deep at the far end, and I’ll miss the salt water which definitely gives you a second or so for free every 100m. But above all I’ll miss the magic. Walking down the cavernous stairs past the honour rolls of world records. Changing in the slightly grungy dressing rooms with their Edwardian era cubicles and 1980’s additions. Lounging about with a book and a coffee on the sun deck on a lazy Sunday morning. Backstroking under the Harbour Bridge. Noticing a new detail of the Art Deco architecture. Nothing matches it.