Alam, A., & Houston, D. (2020). ‘Rethinking care as alternate infrastructure’. Cities, 100, 102662.
Ayriss, C., (2009), Hung Out to Dry: Swimming and British Culture, Lulu.
Bouchier, N. B., & Cruikshank, K. (2011). ‘Abandoning Nature: Swimming Pools and Clean, Healthy Recreation in Hamilton’, Ontario, c. 1930s–1950s. Canadian bulletin of medical history, 28(2), 315-337.
Bugeja, L. (2004). Drowning deaths at public swimming pools: Victoria, July 1988–June 2002. Melbourne: State Coroner’s Office, Victoria.
Carr, K.E., (2022), Shifting Currents: A World History of Swimming, Reaktion Books, London.
Latham A, Layton J. ‘Social infrastructure and the public life of cities: Studying urban sociality and public spaces’. Geography Compass. 2019;13:e12444. https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12444
Lewi, H., & Nichols, D. (2014). ‘“You Never Appreciate What You Have Until There is a Chance You May Lose It”: Community Activism and the Conservation of Public Swimming Pools’. Fabrications, 24(1), 114–133. https://doi.org/10.1080/10331867.2014.901140
McShane, I. (2009). ‘The past and future of local swimming pools’. Journal of Australian Studies, 33(2), 195-208.
Messer, J., (2022) ‘The earliest humans swam 100,000 years ago, but swimming remains a privileged pastime’, The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/the-earliest-humans-swam-100-000-years-ago-but-swimming-remains-a-privileged-pastime-196045
Mullan, K., (2026) (ed.), Love Letters to North Melbourne Pool, Shiel Street Press, Melbourne, https://www.shielstreetpress.com/publications/love-letters-to-north-melbourne-pool
OECD (2022), ‘Swimming skills around the world’, Working Paper, https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/swimming-skills-around-the-world_0c2c8862-en.html
Parker, C. (2010). ‘Swimming: The ‘Ideal’ Sport for Nineteenth-century British Women’. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 27(4), 675–689. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523361003600033
Spruhan, T., (2019) (ed.), The Memory Pool: Australian Stories of Sun, Summer and Swimming, UNSW Press, Sydney.
Staines C, & Ozanne-Smith, J. (2017), ‘Drowning deaths between 1861 and 2000 in Victoria’, Australia. Bulletin of the World Health Organisation, 95(3) 174.
Royal Life Saving (2025), State of Aquatic Facility Infrastructure,
https://www.royallifesaving.com.au/Aquatic-Risk-and-Guidelines/aquatic-research/state-of-aquatic-facility-infrastructure-2025
Surf Life Saving Australia (2025), National Drowning Report, https://sls.com.au/national-drowning-report-2025/
Stein, C. S., & Mumford, L. (1957). Toward new towns for America. Reinhold, New York.
Tomaney, J., Blackman, M., Taylor, M., Natarajan, L., & Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, F., (2024) Social Infrastructure and Left Behind Places (1st ed). Taylor & Francis Group, Milton.
Wiltse, J. (2007). Contested waters: A social history of swimming pools in America. Univ of North Carolina Press.
Winterton, R., & Parker, C. (2009). ‘‘A Utilitarian Pursuit’: Swimming Education in Nineteenth-Century Australia and England’. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 26(14), 2106–2125. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523360903303060

News

ABC (2016), ‘Country Towns Fight to Save Local Swimming Pools’, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-19/country-towns-fight-to-save-local-swimming-pools/7752182
ABC (2018), ‘Finding an Inland Oasis’, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-19/surviving-summer-hundreds-of-kilometres-from-the-coast/9340858
ABC (2025), ‘As temperatures plummet in winter, heating Australia’s public pools comes at an environmental cost’, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-11/carbon-emissions-council-pool-aquatic-centre-net-zero/105591956
ABC (2025), ‘Cabonne Shire Council trials hours without lifeguards at rural pools to cut costs’, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-13/unsupervised-pool-trial-cabonne-shire-halves-costs/105402676
ABC (2025), ‘Olympic Leisure Centre swimmers left high and dry as historic aquatic venue closes’, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-31/olympic-leisure-centre-heidelberg-west-pool-closure/105953220
ABC (2026), ‘After more than two decades of planning, Whittlesea council casts doubt over public pool’, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-02/melbourne-mernda-whittlesea-pool-aquatic-centre-funding/106631820
ABC (2026), ‘Glenthompson community keeps town pool despite council’s closure vote’, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-08/glenthompson-keeps-town-pool-despite-council-closure-vote/106372106
ABC (2026), ‘The Pool Show at Penrith Regional Gallery casts a critical eye over Australia’s pool culture’, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-21/the-pool-show-penrith-regional-gallery-marian-abboud/106244548
ABC (2023), ‘Penrith Beach opens in Western Sydney in Extreme Heat’, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-19/penrith-beach-opens-in-western-sydney-in-extreme-heat/103246558
Arch Daily (2016), ‘The Pool: Inside Australia’s Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Biennale’, https://www.archdaily.com/788471/the-pool-inside-australias-pavilion-at-the-2016-venice-biennale
The Ballarat Courier (2021), ‘Residents query closures: Cool summer keeps gates locked on loved community pool’.
InDaily SA (2025), ‘‘Unsaveable’: Council to fund demolition of ‘hideous’ Adelaide Aquatic Centre’, https://www.indailysa.com.au/news/archive/2023/06/21/unsaveable-council-to-fund-demolition-of-hideous-adelaide-aquatic-centre
Infrastructure Victoria (2021), ‘Social infrastructure in Melbourne’s growth areas’, https://www.infrastructurevictoria.com.au/resources/social-infrastructure-in-melbournes-growth-areas
New York Times (2026), ‘Icelanders Love Their Pools’, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/30/world/europe/iceland-hot-tub-pools-tourism.html
The Age (1994), ‘A Pool of Economic Rationalism’, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-age-a-pool-of-economic-rationalism/185730693/
The Age (1995), ‘The Pool: Had to win it to be in it’, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-age-the-pool-had-to-win-it-to-be-in/198444323/
The Age (2014), ‘Life and Death in our public pools’, https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/life-and-death-in-our-public-pools-20140331-35txe.html
The Age (2023), ‘Arms race for the most extravagant pools divides residents across Melbourne’, https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/arms-race-for-the-most-extravagant-pools-divides-residents-across-melbourne-20231102-p5egyx.html
The Sydney Morning Herald (2025), ‘A Fundamental Part of Growing Up: Why Aussie Kids Can’t Swim Any More’, https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-fundamental-part-of-growing-up-why-aussie-kids-can-t-swim-any-more-20250807-p5ml96.html
The Eastern Melbournian (2025), ‘“Kilsyth doesn’t have a heart”: Locals push for a rebuild of the iconic Centenary Pool’, https://www.easternmelburnian.com.au/p/locals-push-iconic-kilsyth-centenary-pool-rebuild
Zeitgeister (2024), ‘Kafka and Sport: The Great Swimmer’, https://www.goethe.de/prj/zei/en/art/25229228.html

Public Records Office Victoria

Ararat (VA2376) VPRS 15266
Avoca (VA536) VPRS 12308
Ballarat (VA478) VPRS 2500
Creswick (VA658) VPRS 15564
Creswick Shire Council (VA658) VPRS 15564 (Smeaton)
Sebastopol (VA742) VPRS4577
Shepparton, (VA2507) (Shepparton Raymond West Swimming Pool)

Harcourt Heritage

https://heritage.harcourt.vic.au/
Harcourt Swimming Pool records, 1920s – approx. 2014

Interviews: Save Our Pool

‘Save our pool’: The past, present and future of swimming pools as public and community spaces in Australia
Monash Project ID: 45832

Photos