NOT even storms could dampen the spirit of pool goers last week, with the Macarthur Pool attracting a large crowd for their annual Australia Day fundraiser.

Macarthur Swimming Pool Committee secretary, Linda Malseed said the event ran from 10am-4.30pm and was a huge success with people travelling from nearby towns to participate in the day. 

“It was an absolutely fantastic day, about 130 people overall who came including swimmers from Port Fairy and Warrnambool,” she said.

Several activities were on offer throughout the day including boat races, inflatables, games, a treasure hunt, pancake breakfast, raffle and the new Macarthur CFA fire truck on display.

“It was just amazing,” Ms Malseed said.

“We had a really good raffle with about 10 different prizes and we had a guess how many lollies were in the jar game which caused lots of excitement.

“I think it was one of the best Australia Day’s we’ve ever had at the pool.”

Approximately $1600 was raised throughout the day, with all proceeds going back to the community pool. 

Ms Malseed said she was delighted the event was able to run considering the impact COVID-19 had on the community and other recent events.

“We’ve always been seen as the fun pool and I think at the moment we haven’t been able to have lots of fun with Covid so it’s really good to go out in the open and have an event,” she said.

“We have lots of areas so they can spread around while keeping socially distanced.”

The wild weather on Wednesday afternoon caused the event to end earlier than anticipated, however, Ms Malseed said she was extremely proud of the pool committee for organising such a successful day.

“We had perfect weather in the morning… unfortunately, (the event) got shut down when the storm was rolling in,” she said.

“We were to have a barbeque tea as well but that got postponed.

“The pool was a buzz and there were lots of kids in there having fun with their parents.

“It was a successful day and we had terrific feedback and everybody had a really good time.”