Drummoyne Swimming Centre

I've just added a swim at Leichhardt Park Aquatic Centre. It's early evening but still light and I fancy a saltwater dip without the Sydney Harbour bull sharks at dusk, so I head around to the other side of Iron Cove to Drummoyne Swimming Centre.

The pool sits right under the Iron Cove Bridge, and under the Sydney Airport flight path. I pay the very reasonable entry and head to the changing rooms. They have the neat, free electronic code lockers. It must just be Queensland that don't do lockers. They're the exact same design as the Leichhardt Park ones, only these feel a bit more worn.

I also find out they have a very sensitive tamper alarm. I spot a locker that looks free, enter a code to try and open it, and set off a pretty loud alarm. No one comes running and the other guy in the change room doesn't flinch, so I'm guessing it's not uncommon. On closer inspection the LED is flashing very faintly, and it seems all lockers are in use — which is odd, because we're in the men's change and there's only one guy in the pool (it's a women's water polo training session). I see the issue with these lockers: people stick a code in and claim them long-term. I stash my clothes in my swim bag and start the hike down the concrete steps through the spectator seating toward the far end of the pool.

The pool is set up with a slim-wall boom, dividing the 50 m into two 25 m pools: bridgeside swim lanes, and a water polo session on the near side. The swim lanes are quiet — only two other swimmers — so there's plenty of space for a lane each. The lane ropes are loose and droopy; if you followed the ropes and not the tiles you'd swim in a curve.

I jump in and make a start. It's a saltwater pool with water pumped straight from the harbour. The water is surprisingly warm and very, very salty. Possibly the very hot weather earlier in the week caused a lot of evaporation, and they've topped up with more harbour water rather than fresh, so the salinity is up. Either way, the extra buoyancy definitely helps my pace.

I work through a 400, 300, 200, 100, then finish with six 100s. Lately I'm plodding through longer swims, trying to stay injury free while away, as I usually overdo it when I get into the pool for a fun Friday 100s session.

Swim done, I head back into the city for evening work calls.

The original pool opens in 1902, cut from solid rock, and over the last 120+ years it's seen several redevelopments to become the 50 m, eight-lane pool here today. There's a great write-up of the history via Drummoyne Swim Club: https://drummoyneswimclub.com.au/history-of-drummoyne-swimming-club-first-100-years/