Members of the 1976 Australian Olympic swim team have returned to North Sydney Olympic pool to celebrate their 50-year reunion and revisit the venue that shaped their careers.
The team trained at the iconic harbourside pool during a golden era of swimming, a period when the venue became one of the world’s most recognised competitive swimming locations.
Between 1953 and 1978, the pool was the training ground for a generation of champions, with 86 world records set.
The harbourside pool was the training venue for the swim team that represented Australia at the 1976 Olympics. (Supplied)
Members of the 1976 team went on to collectively hold numerous world records throughout their sporting careers.
Originally built in 1938, the pool has undergone a major redevelopment. After closing in February 2021, the public will again get access to the facilities in August.
The renovation started as a $28 million project but quickly grew to $58m before ending up with the $122m price tag.
‘Fond memories’
Graham Windeatt won silver when he swam the 1500m freestyle at the Munich Olympics in 1972 before going on to captain the 1976 Games’ Australian swimming team.
Windeatt said he had “fond memories” of the refurbished pool, where he first swam when he was eight.
Graham Windeatt says he has fond memories of swimming at the newly refurbished pool. (ABC News: Chantelle Al-Khouri)
It was the same pool where he set a world record for the 880m freestyle in 1971.
“That was very groundbreaking and it hasn’t happened since,” he said.
“Our whole support group in those days was mum and dad and our coach.
“There was no sports psychologists, no specialists, no rub-downs … we did it by the bootstraps, basically.“
Judy Hudson, nee Laxton, was 17-years-old when she competed at Montreal in the breaststroke and butterfly 200m, 400m individual medley and 4x100m medley relay. She was one of three team captains.
Judy Hudson says the pool was one of her favourites. (ABC News: Chantelle Al-Khouri)
She remembers going to North Sydney for the trials, saying the pool was where she “swam the best in her career”.
“It was a saltwater pool, so I think we had better buoyancy back then,” she said.
“I don’t know if it’s saltwater now or a combination, but it was one of the best Australian titles I ever did to get into the Games.
“This pool was one of my favourites, it’s lovely to see it’s still here — just the architecture. The deep end was the starting block.
“Back then, we used to have dyna stats that we used to work on before we got into the pool, which I don’t think anyone would know what a dyna stat is anymore; it’s kind of like a dinosaur exercise machine.
“But very fond memories, it’s a great pool.“
The pool was previously a training ground for a generation of swimming champions. (Supplied: Facebook)
At the age of 16, Max Metzker swam the 1500m freestyle with Stephen Holland and Paul Nash at the Montreal Olympics.
Metzker said his teammates helped to ground him amid the excitement of the games.
“It’s always overwhelming with the opening and closing ceremony and all the hype, but you’ve still got to focus on your event,” he said.
Max Metzker was a 16-year-old when he swam for Australia in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. (ABC News: Chantelle Al-Khouri)
Metzker said he enjoyed returning to the iconic venue.
“I haven’t seen some of these people for 50 years, so there’s definitely a bonding and camaraderie amongst us,” he said.
