Feb 2024 Update: Oh boy – there's news just in that Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool is closing for 16 months from May 2024 so that work, including retiling and the refitting of a heating system, can go ahead.
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This harbourside pool is one of the most photogenic inner-city swim spots in Sydney. Its surrounds were a popular bathing spot since long before the British arrived, and public sea baths first opened here in 1860. In the early 1920s, famous Aussie swimmer Andrew ‘Boy’ Charlton achieved many of his triumphs here – such as beating European champ Arne Borg – and setting a new world record in the process – when he was just 16 years old.
Today, the baths offer an eight-lane, heated 50m pool, learners’ and toddlers’ pools, a sundeck and Oh Boy café. The complex also houses yoga classes and more. The pool’s harbourside edges are glazed, allowing swimmers unparalleled views across the sparkling bay. After a dip, meander through the Botanic Gardens and around the harbour's edge towards the Sydney Opera House.
