b'F R O M T H E B E G I N N I N Gthe early days, the Athletics Carnivals were held at the SydneyCricketGround,butlatertheyweremovedtoCoogeeOval. Mr. Nimmo was the chief organizer and he would start each racewith his famous finger whistle, which could be heard for miles.Any boy who could not swim was taught to do so in his firstyear at Coogee Prep by Bill Nimmo. In the early days, the week-lyswimmingtookplaceintheopenwateratClovelly,wherethere was a cable strung between the headlands, to be clung to byvictims of rips or freak waves. In the classroom, at the end of alesson,Nimmowouldannouncethattheyweregoingtothebeach. He would grab the swimming gear and stride off acrossthe park, making for Clovelly Junction, with the school runningafter him. At the corner of Frenchmans and Clovelly Roads, theywould board the tram for Clovelly Beach.However, after a few years the swimming training was trans-ferred to Wylies Baths at Coogee. Once a week, from October toApril, the boys would travel to Wylies by bicycle or they wouldtake the tram and then walk. While the Inter-school Swimming Championships were held atthe Coogee Aquarium near the tram terminus, the annual SchoolCarnival was held at Wylies Baths and one Old Boy remembers onesuch occasion: Mr. Nimmo was not one to be bothered by outside things like theweather. After Assembly one year, he decided that the rain fallingfrom the leaden sky was lessening, so off we went. It turned to oneof those prolonged Sydney cloudbursts, with thick waterfalls cas-cading down the cliffs into the baths. Bill continued, unperturbed,running the whole carnival single-handed as usual, with his exer-cise book and umbrella. He had a good memory: the book musthave been illegible.Eventually, Wylies Baths was badly damaged by storms so theSwimmingCarnivalwasmovedtoHeffronPark,Maroubra.Weekly instruction for the younger boys also took place there untilthey were moved to the Botany Pool. The older boys now go to thepool at the University of New South Wales. 5 8'