Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (Competition pool)

When I start this challenge there are a few pools on the dream list. This one is right at the top — the venue of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Sydney 2000 is the first Olympics where I properly follow not just swimming but a whole range of sports - the internet is just taking off and the rise of 24-hour news and live coverage has begun. Suddenly you can watch full games and get results and stories from the other side of the world in near real time. 21 year old me had fallen out with swimming for a few years but this brought back the excitment of live sports - I vaguely remember watching bits of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, USA from a villa in Cala Galdana, Menorca, but that was mainly the mountain biking, which I was big into at the time and was having it's first Olympic outing.

This is the Games where both Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps make their Olympic debuts. Phelps is only 15 and swims the 200 butterfly, finishing fifth — incredible for someone too young to drive. Thorpe races in those controversial Addidas sleek full-body suits designed to reduce drag, the kind of tech that would spark years of debate and eventually be banned. It feels like the first time the kit on a swimmer really changes the sport, probably the biggest advancement in the sport since electronic timing pads arrived in the late 1960s.

For British swimming it's a different story. Sydney 2000 turns out to be a low point, no medals, and the worst team performance since the 1930s. The review that follows changes the direction of the sport in the UK for the next two decades. Looking back, knowing how central swimming is to Australia culture, I can see how underfunded and patchy grass-roots swimming feels in the UK in the 90s. I loved the competition, Saturday night swimming galas and teams, but from a competitive pathway point of view, the sacrifice of hours each week left you wondering why!

Sydney Olympic Park sits about a 20 minute drive from the city. It's signposted from miles out and still feels like a full-on sports village. Post-Games regeneration has shifted bits of it, but many features remain, especially the Aquatic Centre, the Athletic Centre, and the Tennis Centre.

I pull into the car park. It's relatively quiet, though I loop a couple of times to find a spot that isn't reserved for members. The walk to the entrance feels like heading into a concert venue, designed properly for big crowds. The pool entrance itself is like stepping into an underground bunker.

I pay a very reasonable entry fee and cross the 'pool bridge', competition pool below to the left, warm-up/training pool to the right, and an aqua play area beyond. Everything looks busy. Down to the changing rooms — surprisingly tiny for a venue this big — then I figure out the fancy electronic lockers (pretty sure these are the same as Disney waterparks in Florida - had déjà vu when I entered my date of birth, then had to select my favourite image - and went with the cartoon race car!).

Out to the deck between the two main pools. Where to start. Risk assessment says the competition pool has public lanes and that's the main attraction, so I jump in there first in case they close it.

I've always thought the 100 free is the pinnacle event — probably because that's what I swam. Until Michael Phelps rewrites the rules with IM, the 100 free is the headline. Sydney 2000 was the Olympics where Pieter van den Hoogenband wins the 100 free, but seeing as I'm in Australia I'm sliding into lane 5 for Aussie hero Michael Klim (he finished fourth).

There's one other guy in the lane doing sharp pace drills. I wait for him to clear the far end and push off. First up, a relaxed 1 km to soak in the venue. My mind drifts to how much the building has changed structurally since the Games — those huge temporary stands in the footage, the blocks of Olympic-coloured seats (which look so dated now - sorry), then I pull my head back into the swim. I move on to 12 x 100 to pick up the pace and add some distance.

The place shows a bit of wear now. The water temperature is perfect, but not as crystal clear as you'd maybe expect - but it's handling a massive volume of swimmers and it's cleaner than my regular local. No complaints.

Main pool done, I head across the deck to the 50 m, eight lane training pool for a few easy lengths to finish.

If you fancy a nostalgia hit, here's the men's 100 free final from Sydney 2000:
https://www.olympics.com/en/video/pieter-van-den-hoogenband-wins-100m-freestyle-gold-at-sydney-2000