A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or paddling pool is a structure designed to hold water to enable swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground or built above ground, and are also a common feature aboard ocean-liners and cruise ships. In-ground pools are most commonly constructed from materials such as concrete, natural stone, metal, plastic or fiberglass, and can be of a custom size and shape or built to a standardized size, the largest of which is the Olympic-size swimming pool.
Dalby is a town and locality in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. Dalby is within and is the administrative centre of the Western Downs Region. At the 2016 census, Dalby had a population of 12,719.
Western Downs Region is a local government area in Queensland, Australia. The Western Downs Regional Council manages an area of 38,039 square kilometres (14,687 sq mi), which is approximately the same size as the country of Switzerland, although with a population at the last census of close to 33,000, it is over 235 times less densely populated.
The Dalby Olympic Swimming Pool complex was constructed in 1936 and is the earliest identified Olympic standard pool in Queensland constructed outside Brisbane.[1]
Brisbane is the capital of and the most populated city in the Australian state of Queensland, and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of 2.5 million, and the South East Queensland region, centred on Brisbane, encompasses a population of more than 3.5 million. The Brisbane central business district stands on the historic European settlement and is situated inside a peninsula of the Brisbane River, about 15 kilometres from its mouth at Moreton Bay. The metropolitan area extends in all directions along the floodplain of the Brisbane River Valley between Moreton Bay and the Great Dividing Range, sprawling across several of Australia's most populous local government areas (LGAs)—most centrally the City of Brisbane, which is by far the most populous LGA in the nation. The demonym of Brisbane is "Brisbanite".
Dalby was one of the earliest European settlements on the Darling Downs. The township was surveyed in 1853, the first land sales took place in 1857, and the Town of Dalby was proclaimed a municipality in 1863.[1]
The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally applied to an area approximating to that of the Condamine River catchment upstream of Condamine township but is now applied to a wider region comprising the Southern Downs, Western Downs, Toowoomba and Goondiwindi local authority areas. The name Darling Downs was given in 1827 by Allan Cunningham, the first European explorer to reach the area and recognises the then Governor of New South Wales, Ralph Darling.
The Town of Dalby was a local government area of Queensland, Australia which managed the affairs of Dalby. It was located 85 kilometres (53 mi) north-west of Toowoomba. It was amalgamated into the Western Downs Region in 2008.
Dalby has a long association with swimming as a sport. Initially, a swimming hole in Myall Creek was used, but in 1902 an artesian bore was sunk on the bank and baths were built nearby to take advantage of the bore water. The Dalby Amateur Swimming Club was formed in 1912. In 1920 a new bore was sunk and in 1924 a public baths (the Dalby Bore Baths) was constructed close to it. This facility closed in September 1938, possibly because the new Olympic Pool had supplanted it.[1]
From the 1910s, swimming as both a competitive and recreational sport gained rapidly in popularity in Queensland, and indeed, world-wide. In 1908 the Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA) was formed with the goals of standardising the rules for swimming, diving and water polo, obtaining control of world records, and ensuring the direction of Olympic Games competitions for swimming, diving and water polo.[1]
Swimming is an individual or team sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water. Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic sports, with varied distance events in butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, and individual medley. In addition to these individual events, four swimmers can take part in either a freestyle or medley relay. A medley relay consists of four swimmers who will each swim a different stroke. The order for a medley relay is: backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle. Swimming each stroke requires a set of specific techniques; in competition, there are distinct regulations concerning the acceptable form for each individual stroke. There are also regulations on what types of swimsuits, caps, jewelry and injury tape that are allowed at competitions. Although it is possible for competitive swimmers to incur several injuries from the sport, such as tendinitis in the shoulders or knees, there are also multiple health benefits associated with the sport.
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, usually while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.
Water polo is a competitive team sport played in the water between two teams. The game consists of four quarters in which the two teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the most goals at the end of the game wins the match. Each team is made up of six field players and one goalkeeper. Except for the goalkeeper, players participate in both offensive and defensive roles. Water polo is typically played in an all-deep pool meaning that players cannot touch the bottom.
Swimming was given further impetus by the 1924 Olympic Games held in Paris. The Piscine des Tourelles, an 8-lane pool measuring 50 metres (160ft) in length by 20 metres (66ft) in width, was specially constructed for swimming events, setting the Olympic standards. Swimmers hoping to compete internationally now needed a pool of this size in order to practice effectively. The precise requirements to meet Olympic pool standards have since been refined and cover width, depth, and temperature and light densities.[1]
The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France.
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France, with an area of 105 square kilometres and an official estimated population of 2,140,526 residents as of 1 January 2019. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of Europe's major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts.
The Piscine des Tourelles, sometimes listed as Le stade nautique des Tourelles, is an aquatics venue that was used to host the diving, swimming, water polo, and the swimming portion of the modern pentathlon events for the 1924 Summer Olympics. Located in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, it hosted eleven swimming, diving, and one water polo during those games. Attendance at the games totaled 51,000 for all eight event days.
In Brisbane, the Fortitude Valley Baths were rebuilt in 1925-1926 to the Olympic standard, being 50 metres (160ft) in length and 22 metres (72ft) wide. This pool no longer survives.[1]
By the 1930s swimming was a glamorous sport internationally, with sport and medal winners such as Duke Kahanamoku, Johnny Weissmuller and Buster Crabbe becoming Hollywood celebrities. In Sydney, four Olympic-standard pools were constructed in the 1930s, municipal councils taking advantage of loans and other financial incentives offered by a government keen to create work by encouraging civic building projects. The pool buildings and surrounds of the new Olympic pools were architect designed. A notable survivor is the North Sydney Olympic Pool Complex opened on 4 April 1936.[1]
Design problems with the new large pools included the provision of adequate water filtration and the prevention of algae. The firm of AH Pierce & Co., still associated with commercial pools, imported calcium hypochlorite from England and pool builders took a keen interest in others' pool designs. Pool facilities usually comprised an Olympic-standard pool for recreation and competitions, a smaller pool for children, diving tower, spectators' stand, men's and women's changing rooms and club meeting rooms.[1]
By the early 1930s Dalby was experiencing renewed growth and prosperity, reflecting extensive land reclamation in the surrounding district in the wake of the eradication of the prickly pear cactus. This noxious weed had wasted thousands of hectares of agricultural and grazing land in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Annual Report of the Department of Public Lands identified Dalby, Chinchilla and Miles as the towns experiencing the most progress. Under the Intermittent Relief Scheme established during the Depression, the Department of Works remodelled and added to the Dalby State School. The Dalby Court House and Police Station were also built in the first half of the 1930s.[1]
In 1933 Dalby Town Council formed an Olympic pool committee. The idea for a pool and tennis courts in Dalby had been suggested in correspondence to the Council by the Dalby Chamber of Commerce in 1931. The Dalby Town Council appointed William J Reinhold as the consulting engineer and Clifford E Plant as the architect. Plant is noted for the Kings Beach Bathing Pavilion and the Redcliffe Bathing Pavilions Group, designed and constructed in the 1930s.[1]
Dalby Olympic Swimming Pool, 1940
Excavation work commenced on 1 July 1936 and the first patrons were admitted late in October of that year, with 1550 people using the pool in the first weekend.[2] The complex was completed at a cost of £11,500 and was officially opened on 14 November 1936 by Frank Cooper, MLA, Minister for Public Instruction, before a crowd of approximately 2,000 people. Commending the Dalby Town Council on its initiative, Cooper commented that there was no town twice or even 10 times the size of Dalby that had a swimming pool like theirs.[1][3][4]
At the time, the pool was the most modern in Queensland, using the latest filtration and chlorinating equipment to treat the artesian water used to fill the pools. In March 1938 the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Alfred James Jones, visited Dalby with the Chairman of the Brisbane Parks and Baths committee in order to inspect it before planning similar pools for Brisbane, though it was some years before such plans were implemented.[1]
The opening of the Dalby pool gave an impetus to regional swimming and a number of swimming clubs were formed including the Dalby and District Swimming and Life-Saving Club, and the association of the pool with community sports clubs continues. The first major swimming carnival was held in February 1937. During the Second World War, aircrew from No. 12 Squadron stationed nearby received their forced landing at sea training in the Dalby pool.[1]
The 1956 Melbourne Olympics led to an increased interest in competition swimming and most surviving early Olympic pools in Australia date from the preparation for, or interest stemming from, these games. Between 1949 and 1960, Dalby district swimmers gained approximately 100 places in Queensland swimming and diving championships. The pool was visited and used by a number of famous Australian swimmers including Dawn Fraser, Murray Rose and members of the Konrad family. During 1957-8 the Dalby pool recorded an annual attendance of 143,167.[1]
The original timber spectator stand for the pool was replaced by a concrete stand in 1971 and named for a former pool manager and coach, Arthur G Obst.[1]
In 1983, the pool area underwent renovation. This work included the replacement of the circulation pipe work, the plant room and water treatment plant, the concrete concourses around the pool and the substitution of skimmer boxes for scum gutters. More recently, the pools have been lined with fibreglass and fibreglass features have been added to the children's pool.[1]
The Dalby Pool Complex remains the venue for large swimming carnivals, one of which, the Dalby Open, attracted 1734 nominations in 2002.[1]
Description
The pool complex is in a parkland setting to the rear of Dalby War Memorial and Gates and adjacent to Myall Creek. It is part of a large recreational precinct which includes a lawn bowls club and croquet club.[1]
The open-air pool complex is approached from Patrick Street by twin paths that divide behind the war memorial, to which the pool pavilion forms a backdrop. A formal arrangement of garden beds and flagpoles fills this space.[1]
The symmetrically placed entry pavilion is a single storey rectangular building spanning the width of the pool complex. It has a hipped roof with gables at each end of the front and a central gabled porch leading to turnstiles and the pool area. This area contains granite panels commemorating the opening of the pool complex. The building is clad with weatherboards on the lower section with panels of fibrous cement sheeting above. It is lit by six pane casement windows. The south-east part of the building contains a service area and kiosk and club meeting rooms are located in the north-west end of the building.[1]
The rear of the building also has a central gabled porch and a timber pergola over a paved area that separates the building from the pool.[1]
Positioned between the entry pavilion and the main pool, and at right-angles to the latter, is a children's pool measuring 15.2 by 8.4 metres (50 by 28ft). It has recent additions of fibreglass rocks and play features. The main pool measures 50 by 15.2 metres (164 by 50ft). Concrete concourses and lawns surround the pool and a spectators' stand is positioned along one side, with changing rooms beneath. There is a brick plant room at the far end of the pool.[1]
Also located within the pool complex grounds is a pool caretaker's residence. This is a small, high-set, timber cottage with an enclosed front verandah.[1]
The Arthur G Obst Stand is not the original structure and is not considered significant for heritage purposes.[1]
Heritage listing
Dalby Swimming Pool Complex was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 20 March 2008 having satisfied the following criteria.[1]
The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.
The Dalby Swimming Pool complex, constructed and opened in 1936, is important in demonstrating the development of competition swimming in Queensland. As an Olympic standard pool built in the 1930s, it illustrates the surge of public interest both in competitive and recreational swimming during the interwar period. As a facility which demonstrated how artesian water might be used to the advantage of a community, the Dalby Swimming Pool also is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history. It is also important in illustrating the 1930s expansion of civic work in the former prickly pear belt, following the eradication of this pest in the late 1920s and early 1930s. As land cleared of prickly pear cactus was utilised for agriculture, grazing and dairying, towns throughout the prickly pear belt, especially Dalby, Chinchilla and Miles, experienced renewed growth and prosperity.[1]
The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage.
The Dalby Swimming Pool complex is rare as the earliest identified surviving Olympic-sized swimming pool complex in Queensland. It is the earliest known Olympic Pool complex constructed in Queensland outside Brisbane, and retains its two pools (competition and children's), entrance pavilion, and caretaker's residence.[1]
The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons.
The Dalby Swimming Pool Complex has a strong association with the community of Dalby and the surrounding area as an important sports venue for swimming events, enabling Dalby swimmers access to wider Australian competition, and has at times attracted Australian/international swimming stars.[1]
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↑ "DALBY'S NEW POOL". The Dalby Herald. Queensland, Australia. 3 November 1936. p.3. Retrieved 18 August 2016– via National Library of Australia.
↑ "DALBY'S £11,500 POOL". Sunday Mail (343). Queensland, Australia. 15 November 1936. p.2. Retrieved 18 August 2016– via National Library of Australia.
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