Decades of cherished memories

TODAY marks the 50-year anniversary of the Wangaratta Sports Centre opening at the HP Barr Reserve. While the first three decades of the centre's existence facilitated inside sports like basketball, squash, raquetball, netball and badminton, the addition of aquatic facilities - with an indoor 25 metre, eight-lane state of the art heated pool and program pool - in June 2002 saw the newly named Wangaratta Sports and Aquatics Centre open up a whole new range of recreational, health and wellbeing opportunities for the community. This was further enhanced with the addition of the 50 metre outdoor heated pool and another larger indoor program pool in late 2020. One local identity who appreciated more than most the arrival of the pool facilities was veteran swimming and water polo coach, Max Batey. Max coached either swimming and water polo from 17 to 70 years of age. Now retired, he reflected on his long career and said it has been wonderful and rewarding and he hopes athletes, stroke swimmers and water polo players have obtained great benefits from their humble aquatic beginnings. His greatest product was triple Olympian Belinda Hocking, who competed at three consecutive Olympic Games in Beijing, London and Rio - the 200-metre backstroke her pet event. Max reminisced about Belinda's will, her self-belief, self-motivation and a work ethic that "was through the roof". "The more work you pumped into her, the more she loved it and she got a contract with the AIS in Canberra and her parents Ian and Jenny moved to Murrumbateman, north of Canberra, to support Belinda's career," he said. Prior to this Max sent Belinda to swimming teacher Frank Hohmann in Albury and her parents drove her up and back six days a week, twice a day to train. "It was 5am and 5pm six days a week so the family support was there and she was dedicated," he said. Max was himself a highly talented swimmer and his five-decade journey began when he was taught to swim by Gerry McKenna at the Olympic pool in Swan Street and was encouraged by Trudi Kentman to join the Wangaratta Swimming Club under coaches Klaus Jensen and Bruce Revell. He was about seven years old at the time in about 1960 and it was a large club that competed in the Ovens and Murray Swimming Association. Max's times were improving and he was winning Ovens and Murray events and went on to win many country and state medals. He was then invited to Melbourne to be coached by Harry Gallagher, Jack Foster and Harold Watson where he honed his craft. It was a time when the pools in Wangaratta were not heated but the club was super strong locally and if swimmers had potential to mix it with the elite they would go on to larger regional centres like Geelong and Ballarat, or Melbourne where the heated pools were located. Tragically, Max's swimming career was shortened when he came down with a nasty strain of hepatitis as a 16-year-old and his strength never fully recovered. "I turned to coaching as a 17-year-old and I was the youngest qualified coach in Victoria in 1970 and that led me to train a large troupe of swimmers at the Wangaratta Amateur Olympic Swim Club (WAOSC)," he said. "We enjoyed many years of success with the club being full of experience and emerging swimmers. "Some of the early founding families at the club were Batey, Meek, Willoughby, Semmler, Baxter, Duncan, Bull, Kneebone, Osmotherly, Sinclair, Heesh, Caddell, Michael, Aldridge, Daley, Bradbrook, Southwell, Toohey, Frazer, Whinray, Schultz, Diffey and Phillips." In 1974, with his father Ross Batey and Ian (Kiwi) Miller, they formed the Wangaratta Water Polo Club which was part of the Ovens and Murray Water Polo Association. Sponsors of the teams were Steve Siperki from Hollywoods Pizza and Ian McDonald from the Railway Hotel. With plenty of gun swimmers in Wangaratta they formed A and B grade men's water polo sides and an A grade women's water polo side. The three teams consisted of current and past grade swimmers and Max said they were very successful and highly regarded in the Ovens and Murray league. Max established Prestige Swim School that he operated with his family at his home and he taught three generations of swimmers and he also taught at Chisholm Street pool when it was operational. He coached swimmers at clubs such as Wangaratta, Wangaratta Amateur, Wangaratta Stingrays, Wodonga, Benalla, Beechworth and Chiltern over many years. Max ended up coaching either swimming and water polo from 17 to 70 years of age. Now retired, Max reflected on his long career and said it has been wonderful and rewarding and he hopes athletes, stroke swimmers and water polo players have obtained great benefits from their humble aquatic beginnings. Community celebration for all COMMUNITY members are being invited to help celebrate the 50th anniversary with a morning tea at the Wangaratta Sports and Aquatic Centre from 9.30am to 11.30am today. Enjoy a coffee, cake and nibbles, mingle with friends, staff, and the community who have supported WSAC for 50 years. There is also a 70s themed Body Pump class at 9:30am, with participants encouraged to dress in their best 70s gear for the occasion. During WSAC’s birthday month, new members who join will receive 50 per cent off their first month, and all members can go in the running for two weeks free membership simply by coming into the centre and tapping their tag.

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