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Pool's male and female only sessions met with backlash

The Canberra Olympic Pool has been criticised for its decision to trial gender-specific sessions after a request from the Muslim community.

During October, the pool is holding male and female-only one-and-a-half hour sessions on weekend evenings as part of a trial in conjunction with the ACT government.

Female-only sessions have been running from 5.30 to 7.00 on Saturday evenings, and male only sessions at the same time on Sundays.

“This initiative is aimed at maximising patronage for all community groups whilst at the same time minimising barriers for everyone to access public swimming pools,” the pool’s management announced.

But backlash followed the announcement of the decision on Facebook, with some calling it “un-Australian”.

“How does this assist families when you have chosen the only time that people could attend together due to work schedules. Segregating people is an out dated practice,” one person commented.

“This is ridiculous,” another said.

Pictured is Canberra Olympic indoor pool.
The pool has introduced gender-specific time periods. Source: Facebook/ Canberra Olympic Pool

One Nation senator Rod Caddies labelled the decision “lunacy”.

Kirralie Smith, spokesperson for gender-equality organisation Binary, said the trial was hypocritical.

It seems a migrant group can successfully demand gender segregation in the pool but the rest of us are called bigots for insisting we have gender-segregated toilets,” she said.

“I wonder what the policy of this pool is for men who turn up in a bikini expecting to participate in a female-only swim session?

“What happens when a woman insists she identifies as a man? Will she be allowed into male-only sessions? Will the pool then be forced to create special sessions for 58+ gender identities to accommodate everyone?”

Canberra pool defends segregated sessions trial

While there was plenty of feedback that opposed the trial, some were in favour of the decision.

“It Is a great idea, especially for women, as many are a little shy!” one person commented on Facebook.

And the pool’s manager Tracy King told The Australian the trial had been a success and had opened doors for the Muslim community.

“Because of their culture, some can’t be around men in that setting so they really enjoyed the experience. It was like they were having a party and could relax,” she said.

Ms King said the female-only session had seen a huge spike in numbers compared to when the timeslot was for males and females, with on average 80 women attending compared to about five swimmers normally.

Pictured is a woman jumping from a diving platform at Canberra Olympic Pool.
The centre says the trial has been a success despite the public criticism. Source: Facebook/ Canberra Olympic Pool

She asked for the community to be more welcoming of the trial which is designed to be inclusive.

“We’re all human, we’re all equal,” she said.

An ACT government spokesperson echoed Ms King’s stance on the issue.

“ACT government is respectful of those from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds, and this is an opportunity to provide pool access to those who may not have been able to access it previously,” they said.

The trial will finish at the end of the month at which point an evaluation will be made with the public’s feedback welcomed.

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