Friends of Coburg Olympic Pool

06/11/2026

Big thanks to Active Merri-bek (Belgravia Leisure ) and Merri-bek City Council for a really great pre-season meeting yesterday at Coburg Olympic Swimming Pool with Friends of Coburg Olympic Pool (FCOP)

There were exciting updates regarding facility improvements we have been advocating for! Thank you to Council for the following:

✅ Clock: the Lions clock was taken away and fixed and is now working again!
✅ BBQ: well on the way to being fixed!
✅ Power point in the women's change room: from zero to four!!

We had good discussions about many aspects of running the pool this summer including the all important communication, activation of the facility, and tracking numbers.

We are all excited and positive for the summer season at the pool! 🏊🏼‍♀️

📷 Thanks to Brad (Coburg Leisure Centre manager, foreground in the selfie) for taking the pics!

📷 Also pictured: Alex (Begravia Area Manager); Sieglinde, Cate, Greg and Karen (all from FCOP), Jarryd (Merri-bek Council Aquatics) and last but not least, Noah the new COSP manager!

11/09/2026

🎉 Very excited to share that at the September meeting, Merri-bek Councillors voted unanimously for Coburg Olympic Swimming Pool:
🏊🏼‍♀️ THREE early weekday mornings,
🏊🏼‍♀️ extended hours 6am to 9am,
🏊🏼‍♀️ PLUS Saturday morning!!

Huge thank you to Sue Bolton - Socialist Alliance Councillor for Merri-bek who proactively approached us and Council Officers to get a better result for Coburg Olympic. Thank you to the Officers who worked hard on a genius solution for funding the Saturday. Thank you to Mayor Nat Abboud for Merri-Bek for seconding Cr Bolton’s motion, and all Councillors for voting for it!

We’ll do another post on the detail but need to get this news out in the meantime!

Merri-bek City Council
Brunswick Voice
Active Merri-bek

05/09/2026

🚨 THREE MORNINGS 6-9am (YAY!), "FUNDED" BY CUT TO DAYTIME HOURS (BOO)

Recommendations in Outdoor Pool Hours Report for 9 Sept Council meeting, great news:
🎉Three Mornings
🎉 Mon, Wed. Fri
🎉 6am-9am

Not great: "fund" by cutting school term daytime hour (2-3pm)

Please read the report and let us and Councillors know your thoughts.
🔗 Report link in comments

Looking at the data, Coburg Olympic Swimming Pool (COSP) punches WAY above its weight.

EARLY MORNINGS AT COSP = MASSIVE BANG FOR BUCK!!
$7,000 per annum for 2 mornings last season was VERY small expenditure considering the life changing outcomes for so many! Mental health, women's access, physical health, active travel, exercise routine enabled, community etc!

The extra morning and hours are fantastic but it is inequitable to to cut pool hours to fund given for example Fawkner with very low attendance (av 9 compared to COSP 35*) gets 5 mornings with no hours penalty.

❓What do you want? What are your thoughts?
- is Sat morning important to you? Many asked for Sat.
- Do you swim 2-3pm? Maybe before your children finish school?
- Please let us know if you have any insights regarding the data and approach.
- Let your Councillors know! They have to power to change and improve this!

❓We will send some questions to Council Monday morning incl:
- Breakdown of costing for early mornings, staffing level and attendance figures used?
- Analysis for extending COSP season? (was included for Fawkner)
- Monthly breakdown of COSP early morning attendance? (was included for Fawkner)
- Saturday as well? This was a key recommendation in our survey report.

*NOTE: Council cite COSP average early morning swimmer number as 30, but, as our end of season report shows, it was AT LEAST 35. We used real time daily counts by staff and for rigor didn't include some huge mornings where numbers were only staff estimates.

Nat Abboud Helen Davidson Sue Bolton - Socialist Alliance Councillor for Merri-bek Helen Politis for Harmony Park Nat Abboud for Merri-Bek Merri-bek City Council

27/08/2026

🧊🏊🏼‍♀️We are hoping for a better outcome for the early morning hours and days at the September Merri-bek City Council meeting which will include an officer report on access to Merri-bek pools.

In the meantime do let Council and your Councillors know what you would like to see in terms of hours, days and season length.

Thank you to Brunswick Voice and journalist Jo Roberts for this story.

READ full story at brunswickvoice.com.au
Plus 🔗 in our stories, highlights and Facebook

27/08/2026

We are hoping for a better outcome for the early morning hours and days at the September Merri-bek City Council meeting which will include an officer report on access to Merri-bek pools.

In the meantime do let Council and your Councillors know what you would like to see in terms of hours, days and season length. 🧊🏊🏼‍♀️

Thank you to Brunswick Voice and journalist Jo Roberts for this story.

Campaigners for the pool say it continues to miss out on basic upgrades in favour of big spends at other council facilities.

22/08/2026

🌼 Great reel by posted by Coburg Olympic Swimming Pool.
We loved being back at the pool! 🧊🏊🏼‍♀️💙

20/08/2026

🌼Thank you to Merri-bek City Council and Belgravia Leisure Active Merri-bek for a great cold dip event at Coburg Olympic Swimming Pool!

So good to be back at our beautiful pool and to catch up with some Iceburgers!

💧Water temp an “optimistic 13°”
🌡️ Air temp 11° - 14°
🧊🏊🏼‍♀️ 35-40 (staff estimate)

Attendance was estimated at 35-40 which is not too bad considering the terrible rain and wind yesterday! We were lucky this morning with no wind or rain and even some sun near the end.

Mayor Nat Abboud jumped in (see video on her socials!) as did several council staff.

The hot showers in the nice renovated change rooms were much appreciated as was the great coffee and the BBQ breakfast!

Cancer Council Australia Cancer Council Victoria Anthony Cianflone MP Ged Kearney Brunswick Voice Helen Davidson
Swimming Victoria Melbourne Open Water Swimming Club Masters Swimming Victoria/MSV

19/08/2026

18/08/2026

🏊🏼‍♀️COLD DIP AT COSP IS TOMORROW!!
Come along to Coburg Olympic Swimming Pool!

Whether you are taking part in the dip, cheering from the sidelines or simply enjoying a BBQ breakfast with the community, everyone is welcome!

⏰ 7.30am - 11am

☕️ free proper coffee!
🍳 🥓 BBQ breakfast available

RSVP 🔗 in highlights or Facebook comments

🌼$10 donation to help raise funds for cancer research (payable at RSVP link or at the door on the day)

Merri-bek City Council Cancer Council Victoria Cancer Council Australia Nat Abboud Anthony Cianflone MP Ged Kearney Peter Khalil

15/08/2026

POOL CONSULTATION CLOSES MONDAY NIGHT! + COLD DIP ON THURSDAY!🏊🏼‍♀️
What services and programs would you like to see at Coburg Olympic Swimming Pool over the next few years?

We have long called for more activation and access for COSP - here is a chance to have you say!

You can either fill in the survey or email your thoughts to [email protected]

🔗 Survey link in story highlights (Aquatic Strategy) and Facebook comments

The Cold Dip on Thursday is a great way to show your support for COSP while also donating a suggested $10 entry to support the Cancer Council
🌟 BBQ breakfast! 🌟Proper coffee!

🔗 Cold Dip RSVP link in story highlights and Facebook comments



Cancer Council Victoria Nat Abboud for Merri-Bek Belgravia Leisure Brunswick Voice fans Merri-bek City Council
Anthony Cianflone MP Peter Khalil Ged Kearney