Lake swimmers call for more protected baths to keep fear of sharks at bay

"It's beautiful, the freedom of it, the ability it has on your mindset," he said.

But since the shark attack in Bonnells Bay, in the lake's south-west, on January 23, something more threatening has floated into Mr Atkin's mind as he performs his morning ritual.

After all, where Charles Atkin swims is not enclosed in protective netting.

"You have a survey of the water before you jump in, and I don't swim before dawn or at dusk," Mr Atkin said. "But I still feel quite safe."

Charles Atkin is hardly a solitary swimmer. Around the lake, people from near and far play and exercise in the water.

The lake is a major drawcard, particularly during a summer when COVID restrictions have encouraged holidaymakers to search out somewhere beautiful in their own backyard.

But now, with the first reported shark attack in the lake since 1946, many people are wondering where they can swim without worrying about what else is in the water.

"I think there's a real perception that there are a lot of sharks out in the lake," said Lake Macquarie mayor Kay Fraser, observing that the improving health of the waterway had seen an increase in marine life.

While Lake Macquarie City Council's website lists a string of baths, mostly attached to jetties, around the lake, only one - at Belmont - is enclosed with protective netting.

The council is well aware that sharks and safety are now even more prevalent in many lake users' minds and conversations, after marine scientist and Antarctic veteran Rick Burbury was bitten on the arm, most likely by a bull shark, while swimming off Yarrawonga Park on January 23.

"When I first heard about it, I was quite surprised it had taken place," said Brendan Callander, manager of the council's assets.

The council is formulating a Lake Aquatic Strategy that is due to be put out to the community for consultation in the next month or so.

The strategy, Mr Callander said, was "all about activating our lake", and "having the discussion with the community about how they want to interact with the lake". He envisaged that protected swimming baths would form a major point of discussion.

"It was going to be a large talking point, but this [attack] is going to make it more topical," he said.

A little further to the north from where Charles Atkin does his laps at Wangi, a group of swimmers plunges into the lake each morning at the Toronto public jetty and baths.

Ron Palmer has been swimming at Toronto for about 30 years, and he also used to swim out the front of his home at Coal Point.

"I won't swim out in the lake anymore, because of the fish," Mr Palmer said, after he and wife Anya had completed laps at Toronto on a rainy Tuesday morning.

But the swimmers know that big marine animals can also glide through the opening that leads from the lake into the baths.

About six years ago, Mr Palmer was swimming here when a dolphin lolloped in.

"It did a lap and buzzed off," he recalled.

Fellow swimmer Sally Collins said that as she did laps, "you wonder about the marine life; it's always there".

She would like to see the opening into the baths protected in some way.

"The pool is used by children a lot, and families," Ms Collins said.

Ron McSporran has been swimming at Toronto for about 25 years. Since the recent shark attack, he has been more concerned about what may also swim into the baths.

He has written to Lake Macquarie City Council, calling for the organisation to "urgently improve the safety aspect of the Toronto Baths ... to ensure a safer swimming area".

"In view of the incident at Yarrawonga Park, there appears to be a potential risk to swimmers, and Council should waste no time in carrying out whatever action is necessary to prevent sharks from entering the baths enclosure," Mr McSporran wrote.

The veteran swimmer told the Newcastle Herald he would like to see Toronto receive something similar to Belmont baths.

"There's quite a lot of marine life that comes in and out here," Mr McSporran said. "We don't want to disturb the habitat of the marine life, but we want to protect the swimmers."

The redeveloped baths at Belmont, on the lake's eastern shore, were opened in late 2018, with protective netting designed to keep sharks out but to let smaller marine creatures in.

When the Belmont baths were being redeveloped, mayor Kay Fraser was reported as saying the lake was "our jewel and our major recreational asset, so we want people to use it".

"Our priority is to create a safe area that is delivered quickly and encourages people to swim in the lake once again," Cr Fraser reportedly said.

One of the prime movers of having the baths redeveloped was Robin Gordon, from the Belmont and District Residents' Action Group.

She said in the push for enclosed and netted baths, "sharks were a big, big thing".

In more than a decade of campaigning for the baths' redevelopment, Mrs Gordon said, the issue of sharks only grew as there were more sightings in the lake. She recalled addressing one council meeting and saying, "No one wants to swim in this lake now because of the dangers of sharks."

The sense of security provided by the baths, she said, had made them more popular than ever.

"We've become a tourist mecca since the shark attack," she said. "You should see the increase in people."

Robin Gordon believed there should be more shark-protected baths built around the lake.

"I hope other people do get baths, so they can swim in their lake near their home," she said.

Swimming enclosures are part of the lake's history. In the past, there were more baths around the lake's shores.

As he surveyed the water on Tuesday morning, 92-year-old Alan Pearson recalled an earlier incarnation of Toronto's baths, with wire netting to protect swimmers.

"It lasted a long time, but it rotted away," said Mr Pearson, who has been swimming in, and sailing, these waters for most of his life. In all that time, Mr Pearson added, he had seen only three sharks in the lake.

The fate of the earlier Toronto baths happened to others around the lake through the years, as many fell into ruins or were removed.

Lake Macquarie City Council's Brendan Callander said the high cost of reconstructing and maintaining the facilities was a major reason for many of the baths being removed. Although there have been other reasons. In 2019, the baths at Kilaben Bay had to be dismantled because the protective piles were found to contain asbestos.

As for more baths in the future, cost would remain a big determinant, Mr Callander said.

"I don't think every little bay or hamlet could have a facility, but there are definite options," he said.

Brendan Callander said some areas, such as Toronto, already had infrastructure that could make it more cost-effective and quicker to create protected swimming areas. However, with the aquatic strategy still taking shape, he didn't want to nominate specific locations, or a time period, for any baths to be built.

"It depends on each project, and which ones we upgrade to what level that would determine how long it would take," he said.

The popularity of the Belmont baths was reflected in surveys done by the council, with more than 11,000 people using the facility in just six months from December 2019.

Lake Macquarie mayor Kay Fraser said the success of the Belmont facility had encouraged the council to look at other locations for protected baths.

"We want to look at rolling them out, perhaps on the western side of the lake," she said.

Cr Fraser said she was in favour of more protected baths, because "we want people to use the lake".

For the lake to remain a jewel in people's minds, Toronto's Ron McSporran said, more protected baths were needed. He argued the council had made huge improvements to the shoreline, such as at Warners Bay, attracting people to the lake's edge.

"That may be all very well, but with the increase in water sports, jet skis, boating and yachting, there is now a need to include protected and safe swimming areas for people to enjoy," he said. "What's a picnic by the water, if you can't enjoy a swim?"

Even after the shark attack, Cr Fraser believed the lake would continue to entice people into its waters.

"If you are comfortable to do so, please use the lake," she said.

"I'm still swimming in the lake. I'm aware there are sharks out there, but we have to keep it in perspective."

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