The release of shocking drowning statistics across Australia has sparked renewed calls for the reopening of a heated indoor swimming pool at West Wollongong Public School that was closed without warning two years ago

A former student at the school, Mark Johnston, who learned to swim in the pool in the 1980s, is still in shock that the NSW Department of Education decided to close the pool in 2023 blaming structural issues, expensive ongoing maintenance and substandard lighting.

Mark wrote to the Minister for Education, asking him to reverse the decision of the previous government without success. He also launched an online petition, which gathered over 1,000 signatures.

"Unfortunately, the amount of swimming related deaths in NSW and damning statistics about the high percentage of NSW children that cannot swim shows why pools that provide opportunities for children, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds, are an invaluable public asset," Mark said.

Drowning statistics now worst ever

Last month, the National Drowning Report, released by Royal Life Saving Australia, revealed there were a record 357 drowning deaths over the previous 12 months, which is 27 per cent higher than the 10-year average. Research from 2018 estimated that about 40 per cent of children leaving primary school are unable to swim 50 metres, while only 32 per cent could tread water for two minutes – the national benchmark for swimming and water safety in 12-year-olds.

The situation has worsened post-Covid with children's swimming and water safety declining further. During the pandemic, public pools closed, and a significant number of children missed out on two years of swimming lessons, and many never returned.

Mark Johnston says the closure of the West Wollongong school pool means many children may never learn to swim, making them vulnerable around water.

Royal Life Saving Australia research, released earlier this year, surveyed parents and teachers who said almost half of Year 6 students couldn't swim 50 metres, and one in four schools no longer hold swimming carnivals due to poor swimming skills.

Susie McKeon, whose main swim school in Unanderra offers 10 free learn-to-swim lessons for Muslim women, told the Sydney Morning Herald that "being able to swim is an ongoing process. It requires lifelong learning". Both her swim school locations are wait listed. "With two parents working, it's incredibly hard to get kids to attend lessons," she said. "But it's the kids we don't see at all who we worry about the most."

Support for the pool to reopen

Mark Johnston's efforts to see his old school pool reopened "to provide a potential life-saving service" has broad support, including from people whose parents raised the funds in the early 1960s to build the pool with no government funding. There's support also from people who learned to swim in the pool in the 1970s and 1980s, and parents of children who have learned to swim at the pool in the past 20 years while the pool has been run by commercial operators.

"There is substantial goodwill amongst the community to attempt to revive the pool, and I believe I could obtain community assistance to undertake repairs and maintenance to offset some of the government's costs."  Mark's calls for a meeting "to discuss a possible public/private arrangement that would see the pool remain a community asset for the benefit of the community" appear to have fallen on deaf ears.

Pool was a life saver

Branka Pupovac, from North Wollongong, credits the lessons she received while attending West Wollongong Public between 1980 and 1986 for "probably saving my life".

"I couldn't swim before arriving at the school but my mum, who also couldn't swim, enrolled me for two weeks of intensive lessons in the school holidays, when I was eight, and that was a life changer for me," Branka said. "It taught me so much about water safety, including how to survive after falling into the pool fully clothed. It was amazing, at a time when lots of parents didn't take their kids to swimming lessons."

Branka said she was shocked when she learned the pool at her former school had closed suddenly.

"It makes me feel really sad," Branka said. "We had so much pride having that pool and it probably saved my life because we would go to the beach on our own and being able to swim meant our parents could feel confident that we'd be okay. Losing this pool is such a great loss."

Pool built by the community

Branka's former teacher, John De Agnoli, spent eight years at West Wollongong between 1976 to 1984. "When it was established, a pool at a school was quite unique with the community getting together to raise the money to build it."

He shares the concerns at the decision to shut down the pool, meaning "hundreds, if not thousands" of young people will miss out on the opportunity to learn to swim.

"It's the greatest skill that any child can learn because it can ultimately save your life if you can swim."

He said for a migrant community like Wollongong, the pool is a vital asset. "My parents have a migrant background and they couldn't swim. In fact, they were afraid of the water."

Jyothi Budihal, who migrated to Australia from India 15 years ago, put three of her children through swim classes at West Wollongong's school pool before it closed.

"This pool is very good. It's heated and comfortable for the kids." Her 13-year-old daughter Aisha says she learned many styles of swimming and "different techniques for how to breathe".  The Budihal family praised the last operator of the pool, Ken Ewen-Chappell, for being "a great coach".

Blindsided by decision to close

Ken says he managed the pool between July 2020 and March 2023, trying to navigate those difficult pandemic years and teaching "many, many people of all ages how to swim, including hundreds of free lessons to people from disadvantaged backgrounds".

Ken said he was "totally blindsided" when the department "gave me one month to get out" in November 2022.

"No reasons were given at the time and the agreement was rolled over month by month. We were told it would go to tender but that never happened," Ken said.

He refuted claims by the department that the pool was in poor condition at the time he was effectively evicted.

$100,000 invested in upgrading pool

"When I first walked in, it was in horrible condition but by the time I was asked to leave it was in fantastic condition. The bathrooms were brand new, and so were the pumps and other equipment. I even added a new mezzanine at the end of the first Covid lockdown." Ken said he probably invested around $100,000 of his own money to keep the pool in good condition

"You have to ask, what is the government's priority? We need to get kids off their screens and into pools to learn how to swim. If their priority isn't the health and safety of our kids, what is? Something is terribly wrong."

Mark Johnston says he's hoping pressure from the community and from local state member, Paul Scully, might prompt a rethink by the department. 

Mark said his offer to try to reopen the pool by combining private sector support with government funding remains on the table.

He's also sought the support of Wollongong City Council, which has confirmed the city's swimming pool infrastructure is ageing and struggling to cope with our growing population. 

Mark hoped Council would "see sense" in taking on the West Wollongong school pool when it conducts a major review of the city's aquatic and other sporting infrastructure in the months ahead; allowing more people to learn to swim, and for recreational use "so we can become a healthier and safer community".

The NSW Department of Education has been contacted for comment.