Sydney is also a facade: a stage set like a small New York, its props the Harbour Bridge and the other-worldly Opera House. At the centre of the stage is a huge painted face, smiling like a demented Buddha. This is Luna Park, a funfair built in the 1930s. Next to it is the North Sydney Olympic Pool, with its art-deco dolphins and an honour roll of 86 world records: a distinction no other swimming pool on earth can claim. http://www.newstatesman.com/when-olympics-comes-sydney-it-will-provide-facade-shameful-australia
Fun hasn't really been the thing at North Sydney. Ever, arguably. Competitive races dominated the old piled harbour baths as far back as 1878. And while the pool has reincarnated at least twice since then, its swimming culture has remained doggedly Calvinistic. In the 23 years between 1955 and 1978 no fewer than 86 world records were set in the Wonder Pool, including one during a school carnival. http://elizabethfarrelly.net/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=247:public-pools-2&Itemid=69