Just before Christmas a journalist from an online publication, Vice Australia, contacted me about a story she was doing on McIver’s Ladies Baths at Coogee. She wanted to speak to regulars about the ocean pool and get some comments on what sets it apart from other baths in Sydney.
As I said to Neha Kale, I am more of a regular, irregular patron as I don’t live nearby but at least half dozen times a year I get urges to swim in the pool.
So I told her about visiting there with my friend Margie B, when it was raining and the pink hydrangeas were in flower, which I wrote a blog post about. When it came to what sets McIver’s apart, I remembered a comment an older women had said to me on a particularly beautiful day when I was waxing lyrical about the pool.
“It holds the kind spirits of all the women who have swum here in the past.”
I thought this was a wonderful comment that summed up why it’s such a special place to swim, and I rushed out of the water to write it down. Here’s the story, Welcome to McIver’s, Australia’s last ladies-only ocean baths.
I also had the pleasure of visiting McIver’s Ladies Baths with Anita, who’s husband Simon writes about pools on his website Ocean Pools NSW. As men are not allowed in, Anita reviewed the pool, which on that day was very high tide and a bit like bathing in a washing machine. Here’s her review on McIver’s Baths
