History
The History of our Pool
Taken from
”Golden Jubilee 1920 – 1970”
The focal point of the school
in its earliest years was undoubtedly the swimming pool. As well as I can
remember, it was one of the first two or three school pools in Brisbane. All
the swimming was done out of school hours before school, at lunch time, and
after school – under a system known as ‘penny swims’. You paid a penny, and you
swam as long as the teacher cared to stay. After two or three days of heavy use
of the pool, the surface, from end to end, would be covered during the night by
a greenish-brown scum. The first swimmer to dive into the pool in the morning
would literally “break the ice”, as the scum shattered into a myriad of pieces.
You look at the clinical purity of the present filtered pools, and you shudder
at what used to be. Yet the boys and girls lived through it all, and I can’t
remember any epidemics arising from the pool conditions.
There always seemed to be
‘something doing’ at the pool. One morning before school I was giving some
starting practice to the relay team. A spectator arrived in the form of a boy
resplendent in freshly-pressed short and shirt, shoes and socks, and a brand new
school bag on his back. He keenly superintended the operation, looking along
the line of boys who were crouching ready for the take-off. The sharpness of
the “GO”, and perhaps the challenge of the race, were too much for the
superintendent. He disappeared with a mighty splash. Sheepishly he swam to the
side, a little apprehensive of what Mum would say.
By Mr. Chapman (Teacher for 39 years at
Wilston School)
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Stump
grubbing in preparation for the construction of the swimming pool – June
1921 |
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The first
pool – taken in the early ‘20s |
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Southern
end of the pool with picturesque bush-house. |
The Jubilee
War Memorial Pool
A fundamental objective in the
school sporting activities is to teach children to swim. In recent times
approximately 120 children attend “Learn to Swim” classes every year. Records
are vague but it is known that these classes have been conducted for a very long
time and it would be indeed interesting to know how many children learned to
swim in the original pool in its 48 years of existence.
After all these ears of service
the pool finally reached a stage where further maintenance became impossible.
The committee then faced the choice of discontinuing all swimming at the school
or building a new pool. The former was unthinkable but the latter seemed
impossible.
Some time was devoted to
examination f carious schemes for “Economic Repair” and similar bursts of
wishful thinking, but the conclusion was inevitable. The decision finally came
when the proposal was put forward that the new pool be built as the Jubilee
Project.
A design was prepared for a
standard 25 metre, six lane pool which was considerably larger than the
original. The estimate for this work was nearly $25000 but the total of our
resources represented a pitiful small percentage of this sum.
However, government assistance
was such that it became feasible, provided the P&C could raise an additional
$6000. It was therefore arranged to borrow this amount and a contract was let
in July 1969. An appeal was launched and various activities were undertaken to
help clear this debt.
Learn to swim classes and
advanced coaching continues in this school with great enthusiasm and it is
certain that, in the years to come, many thousands of children will learn to
swim in this pool and derive incalculable pleasure and benefit from it.
We hope that our distinguished
guests, past pupils and well wishers will consider this pool a suitable Jubilee
contribution to the facilities of this school and a fitting memorial to those it
commemorates.
By J A Butler
