Freyberg Pool is a public indoor swimming pool on

Wellington Harbour Wellington Harbour ( ), officially called Wellington Harbour / Port Nicholson, is a large natural harbour on the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. The harbour entrance is from Cook Strait. Central Wellington is located on parts of ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The main pool is long. It is named for

Bernard Freyberg Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, (21 March 1889 – 4 July 1963) was a United Kingdom, British-born New Zealand soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, who served as the List of g ...

, a

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

recipient and

Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand () is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom, he, on the Advice ...

A strong swimmer, he won the New Zealand 100-yards championship in 1906 and 1910. Freyberg died in 1963, the year the pool was opened, so it was decided to name it after him as he had trained at Te Aro baths which was previously at the site. The building is classified as a "Category I" ("places of 'special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value'") historic place by the

New Zealand Historic Places Trust Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of ancestral sites and heritage bui ...

. In 2011, along with the

Michael Fowler Centre The Michael Fowler Centre is a concert hall and convention centre in Wellington, New Zealand. It was constructed on Reclamation of Wellington Harbour, reclaimed land next to Civic Square, Wellington, Civic Square, and is the pre-eminent concert s ...

, it won an NZIA Enduring Architecture Award.

References

External links

Buildings and structures in Wellington City Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in the Wellington Region 1960s architecture in New Zealand Swimming venues in New Zealand {{NewZealand-struct-stub