We visited the centre on a Sunday afternoon about 4 pm. The centre is well sign posted and easy to find. On entering the car park I saw signs saying the car park was $5 per hour (more on that in a bit). I managed to park near the entrance and entered what looks like an underground bunker. No queues and admission for one adult and one child was $13. They took my parking ticket and validated it for 4 hours free parking - result! The centre is very impressive with a large Olympic pool to the left of you with the high diving boards. On the right is another pool and the kids area. Lockers are $2 per use, each time you open and close them will cost you $2. Changing rooms were a bit bizarre. There were 4 family rooms that you could lock but they were huge and very wet! There were other changing rooms open to anyone but the showers could have done with regular inspections. There was chewing gum and toilet paper on the floor. Shame! Onto the swimming and fun! There is a huge area just right for young kids to play around in the water with plenty of fountains and little slides to play on. Every 10 minutes or so the huge bucket would tip over and drench everyone underneath it. All the kids would make sure they were positioned ready to get soaked. To the right was a lazy river which went round in a huge circle. It was really strong and my daughter loved it. Up above it was a fairly fast slide which my daughter also loved. There is a height limit of 120cm for the slide. All in all, great afternoon of fun. Changing rooms could do with an attendant to keep them nice and clean. read more

Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre - The view of the kids area - Swimming Pools Near Me - Sydney Olympic Park, NSW

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Five stars for this Aquatic Centre. Here for the State Finals and they look after deaf swimmers with the light starter system ! Thank goodness for equality! read more

Can there be a children free zone? I saw one Jacuzzi that was full so I decided against using my free pass. The rides in the children zone looked fun, but it took up all the space outside of the lanes for swimming. I came here to go to circus arts out back, which was quite fun and I would recommend! It's hard if you're not fit--there is no different level to try--s o work out a bit before. read more

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I will resist the temptation to get political about vast, hideous sums of money that are pumped into meeting the demands of the IOC to create world-class sporting villages that are then left to age under-utilised, I will resists that temptation; and instead focus on what a wonderful opportunity it is to head out to Homebush in Sydney's west and make use of their World-class Olympic Aquactic Facilities (cue smile to the judges). Given its location, which is far from most human life, we chose to go by car. Parking is ample and your ticket can be validated, upon entry at the pool, for a conditional 4 hours free parking. Approaching the site itself is like entering a nuclear bunker and greetings are sparse. We were waved forward by a mute young man, whose only utterance during the whole transaction was 'six'. I assume this related to the dollar value of entry and whilst cursing myself for not carrying Monopoly money, I hand over the requested amount. With not a thank you or a curtsey for my hard-earned shekel we ventured in. The bunker opens out into a huge venue with laned swimming in the Olympic pools to the left and a waterslide wonderland to the right - which drew a gasp from accompanying child. We entered the modest changing facilities and I was the one to gasp next as I noticed two basins were blocked...with vomit. Shudder. I alerted a lifeguard to the 'issue' and he resisted the temptation to move me on and radioed for back-up. We visited just after 1pm on a wet Tuesday and the pool was relatively quiet, though we've been in school holidays and I would caution against it unless you're going with very strong swimmers. It's BEDLAM! The slides and general water madness are perfect for little swimming folk and wee man had a great time. There are regular soakings from various angles and it's all pretty hectic. Naturally the floors can be slippy and I rescued a splayed boy with a pretty impressive bruise to his temple, so caution all. We spent a little time in the rapid river before heading to the spas for a little bubble. A word of caution though, I was very itchy when I came out of them and upon closer examination, I was covered in little red spots. Urk! I'm glad to say they've gone now but not before a cautionary monologue from a concerned lady in the changing room who horrified me with tales mind-boggling medical procedures to cure the pesky spots. This might sound like a horror review and if you have issues about cleanliness - this might not be the place for you. It, very obviously in places, needs some attention but it's good fun, as long as you're willing to scrub a little harder and longer when you get home. We'll go back. I think. read more

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I have swam at several world class Olympic facilities across North America and Europe and the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre by is far is the most substandard and poorly run fitness centre that I have experienced in the past 16 years of swimming, cardio training and weight training. Primarily for the following reasons: * Poorly managed swimming lanes with minimal lap swimming availability due to swim schools and squads constantly using the lanes. * Life guards that pay little attention to lanes and show no governance of the lanes, allowing people to walk in swimming lanes. * Poorly ventilated change rooms that are constantly dirty and wreak of urine. * Dated cardio equipment that malfunctions. * A lack of competitive membership prices and offers The biggest disappointment for me was dealing with the staff from the membership services team that advised me that "members are of the lowest priority". Such a disappointing experience! read more

There's things to just love and things to hate. I'm a swimmer by background, and getting the chance to swim in the competition pool as an adult training for social triathlon is a buzz. I love it. I swam comps in this pool from the time it was built and do there's something very Olympic about it. Swimming in the training pool is not so fun. It often gets overcrowded and its full of kids (and yes, no doubt wee as well). In both the pools, the clientele this centre attracts have no idea how to self-diagnose their swimming ability. It's either that, or they don't see (or read) the signs. Fast means FAST. Like at least 60s per lap. Blergh. Now that I've taken this opportunity to vent during a review - here's some tips: 1. Four hours free parking on ticket validation - bring it inside the centre with you 2. If you can, shower elsewhere. They are pretty gross unless you know where the secret ones are - and I'm not telling 3. If you have nothing to do with the kids, take them into that water park. Apparently that's fun for some and when the wave pool goes off, well, I'll leave the suspense at that. 4. Get the lockers with the keys at $2 per use. Better value and easier to operate. 5. Don't go at lunchtime on the weekend. Trust me. read more

Great swimming pools and really kid friendly. Those are the plusses. The rate to get into here isn't too bad either. The locker facilities are a great way to store your goods. $2 a pop is reasonable value. The negatives: A. When the competition pool is not open. This is a fast pool and a rather great pool to swim some laps in. B. Change room facilities are sub par. The shower keeps turning itself off every minute. No joke: to wash my hair, I had to turn the button on about 10 times. I am someone who does not waste water either. C. Started in the fast lane, and there was a constant movement of lanes. The medium swimmers slowed us all down. Then I saw the medium lane empty, so went into that lane, to be told by a pool attendant to move lanes as they widened the leisure lane, and hence restricted the lane availability for normal swimmers. Grrrr. Try again. There are now about five people in the medium to fast lane. Eventually I try the slow lane. Its all alternating. I had to stop (three times) and take a breather for a minute to ensure I do not get kicked in the head as I am a backstroke swimmer. All the middle of this 50m pool. Although the spas are lovely, they're crowded. Grrrr. Great to visit once in a while. Had to come here for a work assignment so all good. I am reimbursed for this anyway. Not worth three train rides (thank you track work, and sprint from Lidcombe) to come here. Still enjoyed a great swim overall. Worth $7 and one hour, once in a while only. read more

Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre - A glimpse of pool paradise! - Swimming Pools Near Me - Sydney Olympic Park, NSW

Ever since 2002 we have been visiting pools all around Australia watching D2 do her stuff on the diving board. The Nationals have been in Perth, Canberra, Adelaide, Brisbane and Mexico. Sorry... Melbourne. The trip out to SOPAC was a twice weekly affair for years until she got her Ps. Melbourne's aquatic centre is fantastic, a great facility and as with all things Melbournian its close to the city. The rest are not in the game - particularly Canberra where some divers nearly got blown off the boards (its outside) None has the cachet of an Olympic Pool and Diving centre. Thorpie won his first WR here. Geoff Huegill endured a different kind of white line fever. D2 trains amongst the likes of Matt Mitcham and Mellisa Wu. She walks past the 2000 Olympic podium, past pictures of all Australia's legendary swimming and diving heroes, and for once that word 'legendary' is appropriate. The place could sure use some TLC and it suffers because its in Homebush. The staff have all been infected with Tsetse Fly bites and operate in a valium fog. But it is packed to the rafters with history and glory. read more

Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre - 2nd ! - Swimming Pools Near Me - Sydney Olympic Park, NSW

Being such a large complex, you have to be careful where you sit. Watching a diving competition from a far angle means, your head will be pulled one side for a very long time. Besides that it's hard not to awed by a massive facility like this focused on swimming, diving and other water based sports read more

As soon as you step into the pools your nostrils will be assailed with the smell of chlorine while that sickly humidified air seeps its way into your skin. But perhaps the highly concentrated chlorine is necessary, if not essential. I would just make sure your kids close their mouths and eyes underwater in order to not see (or swallow) anything in that exists in that water. Grossness aside, the kids' water play land is really quite cool. Kid's parties are popular and cost around $30pp to cater for a minimum of 12 people. If that's just too expensive, they also have a cafe upstairs with a good vantage point for parents watching over older kids. From there you can see the whirlpool that sucks the kids in and swirls them around and around like being caught in a rapid. Then there's the long line up to the waterslide or the spray jets that naughty kids fire at everyone that's unsuspecting. For little bubs, they have a toddler's pool with little jet streams and mushroom top fountains. I have to say a fond favourite of mine was the inflatable on the water. Two people go at a time and try to manoeuvre across and up the inflatable in a race. Unfortunately, I think they have an age and weight limit now so I guess I'll have to leave my little sister to that one. read more

Parking is easy and free (just get you ticket validated at reception and you get up to 4 hours). My kids love this place! There's a huge area just for kids with numerous smaller slides, fountains, a whirl pool/ rapid river which was a blast and a large water slide. The kids favourite was the bucket that fills up and then every 10 minutes or so the huge bucket tips over and drench everyone underneath it. It has an alarm that sounds so all the kids can run over and make sure they were positioned ready to get soaked. Lockers are $2 per use, each time you open and close them will cost you $2. A great afternoon and kids are exhausted at the end. The change rooms could be kept cleaner but that's the only negative. read more