After 30 years of dedicated service, Jenny Green is bidding farewell to her beloved Centenary Pool as it closes for Olympic redevelopment.
“I fell in love with Centenary and that’s one of the reasons why I’m still here,” Ms Green said.
“Centenary’s like my second home and the staff are like my second family.”
When she says the staff at City Venue Management are like her second family, she means that in more ways than one: both her daughter Michelle and granddaughter Hannah also work at the pool.
She said what she will miss most is the community – the laughs and banter over the counter, and recent shared pride as they gathered around the television at the pool to cheer on their Aussie winners at the Commonwealth Games.
Centenary’s own Rackley Swim Team members Meg Harris and Sam Short won six and four gold medals respectively.
“It’s the love and the fulfillment to be able to be part of such a strong community,” Ms Green said.
One moment that stands out to her was the support shown to their Filipino staff member when he and his wife became separated from their young sons at home in the Philippines during the Covid pandemic.
“They weren’t able to get back to the boys for nearly two years… it tugged at my heartstrings,” Ms Green said.
So, she worked with head coach Damien Jones and the pool’s regular “aqua ladies” group to fundraise for their passports and travel.
Now in Australia, the boys take their swimming lessons here at the pool.
When Ms Green first started as a lifeguard at the Centenary Pool in 1996 at the age of 41, she was the oldest person in the lifeguard course.
After helping the pool to formulate new procedures and policies, her skills were recognised and she became the duty manager.
Now, Ms Green is a familiar face to swimmers.
“I’m an early morning person, so I open the front door five mornings a week at 5am and do the meet and greet,” she said.
“I remember people by their first name, but over the years I’ve developed some really strong friendships.”
Ms Green smiled fondly as she rattled off the pool’s established cast of regulars.
“We get the early morning crew that will come through: the squad kids, love greeting the squad kids,” she said.
“And then you’ve got your aqua ladies – the aqua ladies are very social.
“Then you’ve got the 9:30am City Swim Squad, and in there we’ve got ladies that actually have been swimming in that squad for as long as I’ve been here…
“So they’ve had babies and their babies have gone through our learn to swim program over the years.
“And then we’ve got Troy Fidler’s lunchtime squad,” she said.
Mr Fidler is a triathlon champion and accomplished long distance ocean swimmer who has been coming to the Centenary Pool for 19 years.
After her shift, which finishes at 12:30pm, Ms Green often gets in the water to swim with his squad.
When the pool closes, she will remain with City Venue Management, so swimmers may see her at one of their other pools.
Centenary Pool is hosting a community celebration on its final day of operation, Sunday, August 30.
