Novelty races, pool noodle challenges and boogie board competitions will next year have a place at Wollongong’s school swimming carnivals, with the council due to reverse their “ban on fun” at public pools.
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At Monday night’s meeting, staff have recommended changes to the council’s “school use of swimming pools” policy, removing a rule which dictated that there was to be “no non-competitive swimming” at carnivals.
Instead, the council will stipulate that “structured novelty events such as noodle and/or boogie board races must be conducted within lanes”.
Non-competitive swimming will remain tightly regulated, with the council still ruling out “unstructured aquatic activities” at carnivals.
In January, Greens councillor Mithra Cox campaigned to reverse what she termed a “ban on fun”, saying many kids “don’t even get wet” at their school carnivals due to the council’s policy.
At the time, a majority of councillors voted to defer making a decision on the policy change with others saying they were worried about the unintended consequences of changing the rules without being informed.
Cr Cox said she was pleased to see a rule reversal recommended for Monday’s meeting, which will mean carnivals next January can hold novelty races.
“Basically this means that next summer, the pool noodle race is back on,” she said.
“This is great news, because not every kid is super sporty and competitive, and this way they can still have the chance to get in the pool without having to go in a serious race.”
Cr Cox has also pushed for a change to rules limiting primary schools to a half day carnival, but said council staff had made the case that this would not be practical.
“Staff made a reasonably compelling point that, because of the demand for our pools, it would be a struggle to get them all in before the district carnivals unless we restrict it to half a day,” she said.
“I’m still a bit disappointed, given we apparently have more pools per capita than anyone else, but I am happy to compromise.”
High schools and primary schools with more than 800 pupils can take up a whole day, however even Wollongong’s largest public primary school – at Dapto – has fewer than 800 students.
Councillors will vote whether to adopt the policy change on Monday night.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
