By Casey OÇonnor
On Friday at 5.30pm Gail and Michael Smail will lock the gates of the Stanthorpe Swimming Pool for the final time.
It will be a bitter-sweet occasion for the couple.
According to Gail the Stanthorpe Swimming Pool has played a significant role in their lives.
“The greatest and most rewarding experience has always been to see the look on a child’s face when they swim for the first time,” she said.
“There is something very special about passing on such an important life skill.”
There have been generations who have benefited from her expertise.
Gail is now teaching the kids of kids she taught and in some cases the grandkids of her original pupils.
In the midst of the daunting task of working out what they should leave, what they must find a new home for and what to do with all the lost property (“I’m not going to miss this lost property,” Gail said); the couple took some time out to look back on their journey.
Gail Thompson was a promising young Brisbane swimmer and spent many holidays in Stanthorpe with her grandparents.
The talented swimmer spent hours training in the Stanthorpe Swimming Pool setting quite the example for local swimmers. (Gail swam in the National Trials for the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games).
In 1982, Gail moved to Stanthorpe and began her nursing training at the Stanthorpe Hospital.
Although no longer swimming competitively she remained actively involved in the sport. She began teaching children to swim and helped swimmers with their training.
In 1986 she married Michael Smail and shortly after the couple moved to Thallon.
Gail continued her involvement in swimming, establishing a very successful Learn to Swim program and a swimming club at nearby Mungindi, the closest pool.
The family returned to Stanthorpe and while Michael worked in the wool industry, Gail ran Learn to Swim classes at the Stanthorpe Pool under the YMCA umbrella after unsuccessfully applying for a coaching position with the Stanthorpe Swimming Club.
In 1999 the YMCA handed the operation of the Stanthorpe Pool back to the Stanthorpe Shire Council and the couple successfully applied for the tender of pool and as they say in the classics the rest is history.
Gail laughed as she recounted their opening day at the pool.
“We opened the gates, and it was free entry,” she said.
“We put on a bit of a sausage sizzle and about 300 kids turned up.
“It was fantastic but when everyone went home there was the pool to be cleaned and back then that meant hand vacuuming the pool by hand.”
“Our kids went home with their grandparents and after taking turns vacuuming, we finished around midnight.”
When the job was done, she said she sat in the stand exhausted, teary and questioned what they had let themselves in for.
Twenty-four years later, the care and maintenance of the pool is still a big job but not as manual.
It is an art that Michael has embraced.
He takes immense pride in the quality and clarity of the pool water and the overall appearance of the immaculate facility.
The Stanthorpe Swimming Pool is one of a small number of 50 metre country pools and the couple is proud that the Stanthorpe Swimming Pool is widely acknowledged as an outstanding competition pool. More importantly however, is that the community recognise the precinct as a good and safe environment for kids.
It is one place where the word NO remains firmly in the vocabulary and conversation. The word of Gail and Michael is law and NO means exactly that, as it must in the interest of everyone’s safety and welfare and is respected by all who have passed through the pool gates since 1999.
Gail has trained many good swimmers during her long involvement with a sport that is her passion. When asked to name the best swimmer she has trained Gail said there have been many with a wealth of talent including an outstanding lad from Thallon who competed at state level.
Mungindi was the closest pool so with the blessing of his parents, his training was done in the nearby irrigation channels. Not something you would entertain in this day and age.
Gail said it was an example of having ability, desire and hunger and doing whatever it takes.
Of course the most successful graduate of the Stanthorpe Swimming Club is undoubtedly Ben Armbruster who is currently training towards selection for the 2024 Paris Olympic team after making the team for the 2021 Australian Commonwealth games.
“From a coach’s perspective, Ben is a once in a career swimmer,” Gail admitted.
After guiding Ben through his junior swim years, Gail remains a trusted and highly respected mentor to the young man. The pair speak regularly, and he keeps her up to speed with his training and the latest techniques.
Gail and Michael say they will miss their interactions with the kids but also with those regular morning swimmers including the likes of Mrs Anderson, who in her 90’s is at the pool at 5.30am several days a week.
In the past 12 months Michael suffered what was a life threatening medical issue. A misdiagnosed Golden Staph infection in his knee saw him spend many months in hospital and under treatment.
“I cannot speak highly enough of the many people who offered their help during that time,” Michael said.
“We were and still are grateful to everyone including the SDRC staff who offered to help Gail with the pool maintenance.”
Fortunately Michael is firing on all cylinders, however following his illness and the sudden death of their close friend and long-time colleague Steve McEvoy, the couple decided it was time to revaluate their priorities.
The popular pool lessee’s have not been offered an extension on their current lease or the option to renegotiate with the SDRC and are unsure what is on the cards for the pool in the future.
Looking ahead the couple has not plotted the next phase of their journey. They do know it will include time at the family farm at Amiens and time with their children Jared, Melissa and Tim and their grandchildren. With the family now spread from Esperance, WA to Rockhampton and Lowood there will plenty of travel involved.
Where to next will be something to consider on 1 April.
When we spoke last Thursday their focus was on their big clean up and of course there was the Queensland Primary School Swimming Championships in Brisbane to consider. With several Stanthorpe swimmers competing and Gail was planning her schedule on pool deck for the final time as she has done for so many in the past.
If you are one of the many who graduated from Tadpole to Dolphin over the past 29 years, I hope you find a moment to thank Gail and Michael for their contribution to our community if you have not done so already.
Although they will lock the pool gates for the final time on Friday and the odd tear may be shed, Gail’s passion for swimming will never diminish.
She intends to keep her registrations current and both she and Michael have offered their knowledge and expertise if required as a new chapter begins for the Stanthorpe Swimming Pool.
A word of warning, next season there’s likely to be a new lap swimmer – Gail Smail.
