"On the concrete below, towels are crowded together. In the water, regular lap swimmers have to contend with an onslaught of first-timers. People across Sydney have flocked to netted swimming areas and ocean pools in recent weeks after four shark attacks in 48 hours in New South Wales waters. On Sunday of the Australia Day long weekend, staff at Wylie's had to do something they've never done before tell people they couldn't enter the 120-year-old baths for a swim."
"Julie Hill, an avid ocean swimmer who has lived in the area for 30 years, usually spends her Sunday mornings swimming across nearby Coogee Bay in open water. But we haven't done that since the shark attacks, Hill, in her late 60s, says. There are quite a few of these groups that swim in the morning, and I've noticed, particularly on the weekend, they're not there."
Wylie's Baths experienced unprecedented crowds with a packed upper deck and towels crowded on the concrete as many Sydneysiders sought netted ocean pools. Regular lap swimmers encountered numerous first-time swimmers after four shark attacks occurred within 48 hours in New South Wales waters. Staff were forced to cap entry and briefly bar access to the 120-year-old baths during the Australia Day long weekend due to overcapacity. Local ocean swimmers reduced open-water crossings, and management recorded an immediate increase in paid entries. Longstanding board members reported that numbers had never been capped before.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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