Community
6 August, 2026
Stalwart keen to see pool reopen
CAROLE Manifold is keen on seeing the Rodney Grove Community Aquatic Centre reopen as residents, including from the Terang district, who took her classes show their support.
Ms Manifold used to host her gentle water fitness classes at the Cobden-based facility three times a week, seeing residents from across the Corangamite Shire come together for time in the pool.
“I had attendees from the Josie Black Centre in Terang, who used to be 17-18 people every Tuesday for classes,” she said.
“We’re covering a huge area with the Corangamite Shire – I used to have a busload come from Lismore and Derrinallum every class.
“There were so many people from Timboon and Simpson who would come and do my classes – not just to do the classes but to get in the pool and swim.
“The number of people who have had knee replacements and hip replacements found it was the best rehab to get into the pool.”
The water fitness classes often saw strong numbers, with many dress-up days held throughout the year for special occasions.
As Western District Newspapers previously reported, the centre was closed after pool operator Cobdenhealth found structural issues during planned maintenance and found changes to the Aged Care Act meant they could no longer run the pool at a deficit.
Ms Manifold said she remembered her final class on December 18, 2025.
“When I did my last class, the powers that be came over and said ‘Carole won’t be doing any more classes here for 2025’,” she said.
“There were around 40 people in the pool, and they were all yelling out they were giving me the next week off because it’s Christmas.
“The powers that be said it’ll be closed for the whole of January because of maintenance and my classes could start back in February – they forgot to say what year.
“The worst thing is we’re also worried because they’ve emptied the water out of the pool – anyone who’s ever had a pool said to leave water in as it stops cracks in the pool.
“Cobdenhealth have pretty well wiped their hands of anything to do with it – it’s up to us to maintain it and get it up and going again, so we’ll just keep fighting.”
Ms Manifold joined the Friends of Rodney Grove committee to help raise the $250,000 needed to complete works on the facility.
She said she has been astounded by the amount of support shown to the facility so far, with many from her classes reaching out to her.
“I got a phone call one night and a lady asked me if I’d checked the letterbox, which I said I did every morning,” Ms Manifold said.
“She told me to get out there – I had to take my torch as it was 8pm – and there was $500 in the letterbox.
“In one of my general exercise classes, which a lot of people have started coming to the chair-based classes who used to go to the pool, one lady told me to put out my hand and put $1000 in my hand.
“I have people everywhere asking me ‘Carole, what’s happening about the pool?’
“We’ve got over $100,000 already, but we still need to keep ploughing away to try and get the full amount.”
Ms Manifold said she was concerned about the ongoing maintenance once the pool is reopened.
“My biggest worry is while it’s all very well to get the money to get it started, you’ve then got to have the money to maintain it as well – which isn’t cheap,” she said.
“I was devastated about what happened at the Port Fairy pool because when they first built that, I did a few classes down there and that was catering for the age group I had out at Cobden.
“The big thing is if it’s in their hometown or in their area, they don’t have to travel – a lot of them are going to Warrnambool and Colac now.”