ON March 24, Heather and Emil White, will step out of their management roles at Barellan Swimming Pool, after 51 seasons for Heather and 45 for Emil.

Heather started when she was 17 but had three years off ‘to do something different’. When the local policeman and his wife who were running it got a posting elsewhere, Heather stepped back in.

She has been running the pool, with Emil, ever since. Emil has been there since they married 45 years ago.

The pool was built after the drowning of Ian Johns, 7, and Keith Trembath, 6, in a dam in 1960. It was discovered that not many children, or even adults knew how to swim and a determined community raised money in partnership with Narrandera council and supplied labour, to build a swimming pool for the town.

In 1965, the pool was opened and has grown into a much loved social, swimming, learning and local gathering place for people from all around the district.

Emil said the council and Swimming Club, particularly Jodie Landy, had supported them generously over the years to add solar blankets then solar panels for heating, shade areas, inflatable pool toys, a sunken shaded sitting area outside the kiosk and lawn areas.

“The highlight was probably the solar heating about 10 years ago,” he said.

Heather said the role had taken on a life of its own as she added Learn To Swim lessons, Swimming Club coaching on Tuesdays to Fridays, Aqua Aerobics, school end-of-year swimming days and swimming carnivals for local and district schools.

This year they have the huge honour of hosting the primary and secondary zone swimming carnivals.

In 1988 for the Bi-Centennial, they got Dawn Fraser to do a talk at the hall and a day swimming clinic attended by 100 participants.

Emil said that when they were dropping her off at the plane to go home, they asked if she would be willing to come back.

She was, and she did and the Barellan Dawn Fraser Swim School was born. It ran a week-long clinic every year for 20 years, and Dawn continues a friendship with, and is a Life Member of the Barellan Swimming Club.

“She taught me heaps; I learnt a lot,” Heather said.

They would run two sessions a day with swimmers doing five kilometres in each session.

“Four hundred laps, which is 10kms,” Emil said.

When Heather was deciding whether to go back to the role at the pool after her three years off, she realised it was a great job for her. She loves swimming, being outdoors, encouraging others and it fit around their children as they were growing up.

They were able to have a six month break to do other things in the off season and it was fulfilling to teach kids how to swim.

Even now, it has been a hard decision to let it go.

“There’s not many kids from Barellan who haven’t been taught how to swim by Heather,” Emil said.

She taught some of the parents who now bring their kids to learn.

“This is where all the action is in summer,” Emil said. In winter interests turn more to netball and football.

“I will most definitely miss it,” Heather said. “It will leave a pretty big hole but hopefully not for too long.”

The couple is involved in other community groups and will continue to do the school bus run in the area.

A community celebration to mark the couple’s community contribution over so many years will be at the community hall on February 25.

“We’re not being told much; just to be there,” Heather said.