Hi, it’s Adrian Bo here and today, this week, I’m on Neptune Street in Coogee to talk about a local institution, how it was established and the characters involved. Henry Alexander Wylie was born in 1860 in Ireland. His life in Sydney as an immigrant led him to winning the Australasian Distance Swimming Championship in 1896. He obtained a lease for the area of rocks below the high water mark beneath the cliffs behind me here in 1907. As an amateur builder, he then built the ocean pool we know now as Wylie’s Baths, a local landmark. He and his sons carved the pool out of the rock. In 1912, he added the high timber boardwalk that encloses the pool on two sides, as well as two changing rooms and a concrete diving tower on the eastern wall. Wylie established three lamp posts as well as stringing some lights leading to the pool becoming very popular for bathing at night and having picnics. Wylie’s daughter, Wilhelmina Wylie, from the age of five performed a regular act with her father and two brothers, where she swam with her hands and feet tied together. Later she and her friend Fanny Durack would train in the pool here, apparently swimming between half a mile and three quarters of a mile everyday.

Wylie attended Caerleon College in Randwick. When females were first allowed to compete in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, the two ladies seemed an obvious choice to represent Australia. However the State Ladies Swimming Association stated that women could not compete in the presence of men. There was a public outcry which led to the ruling being relaxed and the ladies then travelled to Stockholm. Durack won the Gold in the 100m Freestyle and Wylie won the Silver. Wilhelmina Wylie eventually won an extraordinary total of 115 New South Wales and Australian titles which is a great testament to her Dad’s knowledge and training as well as the pool he established here. It’s fair to say that Wylie and Durack pioneered where the likes of Shane Gould, Dawn Fraser, Susie O’Neill, Stephanie Rice and more recently Emma Mckeon and many others have continued the tradition to bring home Gold medals from the Olympic swimming pool. Des Renford who i featured in a previous episode, also used to train here. Apparently, he always favoured the lane against the wall. In 1959, Desmond Selby took over the lease for Wylie’s Baths and renamed it to Sunstrip Pool. Sunbathing was becoming very popular at the time so he extended the deck to enable more sunbathers as well as painting the changing rooms to a cream and blue, in a checkerboard design. He also added the kiosk and store on the boardwalk. A huge storm in May of 1974 badly damaged the baths and the buildings, which led to their closure. Another storm in 1977 made the damage worse but the baths re-opened in 1978 going back to the original name of Wylie’s Baths as we know it today.

A committee of management was established with representatives from the South Maroubra Dolphins, the Randwick Coogee Amateur Swimming Club, the Randwick Coogee Digger’s Swimming Club and the Coogee Surf Life Saving Club. Further restoration took place in 1995 and in 1996 the Wylie’s Baths Trust was created to manage the facility. In 2001, the Statue of Wilhelmina was created by Eileen Starke. In 2003, this local institution was added to the New South Wales Heritage Register. A local institution that has undoubtedly played a huge part in Australian swimming history upto date. Now, I’ve been selling real estate in the Coogee area for over 32 years and have sold many properties on the cusp of Wylie’s Baths including recently 15 at 251, Oberon Street which is a one-bedroom unit which I sold for $1,007,000 6 at 4-8 Edgecumbe Avenue, a two-bedroom unit which i sold for $1,700,000, 40 Dudley Street in Coogee, a six-bedroom house which i sold for $5.3 million and 5 at 55 Bream Street, a one-bedroom with no parking which I just sold on the weekend for $987,500. Now I love Wylie’s Baths as it brings a feeling of Europe to Coogee. If you have travelled to the Amalfi Coast in Italy and Mykonos in the Greek Islands like I’ve been fortunate enough to do you would be familiar with what they refer to as beach clubs and cafes.

Basically being a private area near a beach with a nice kiosk to have an espresso and a panini sandwich. I’m so passionate about unearthing great historical stories in amongst Coogee and our wonderful Eastern Suburbs of Sydney and Wylie’s is the closest thing we’re gonna get to Europe at the moment given the Covid restrictions. Keep smiling, as I sense these lockdowns will continue to ease and buyers are certainly out in force at the moment creating an incredible demand for property in the eastern suburbs and therefore establishing premium pricing. My strong recommendation is to sell now prior to the avalanche of stock inevitably due to hit the market in November. Please call me 278 316 for a professional and experienced valuation on your home or your investment property backed by 32 years experience and two and a half thousand sales behind me. And always remember your home is worth more with Adrian Bo.