A popular Sydney pool will be renamed after the late Professor Richard Scolyer, the renowned cancer researcher and former Australian of the Year who died three years after he was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour.
The Inner West Council on Tuesday night voted to rename the revamped Leichhardt Park Aquatic Centre in honour of Scolyer, who was a long-time resident of Sydney’s inner west until his death, aged 59, this month.
Mayor Darcy Byrne said the pool, which is undergoing a $55 million redevelopment, would be renamed the Richard Scolyer Aquatic Centre to honour the bravery and compassion with which Scolyer had lived his life.
“It’s only right that Richard Scolyer’s enormous legacy be honoured and upheld in his own community,” Byrne said.
Scolyer’s death on June 7 prompted an outpouring of emotion across the country after he documented his decision to try experimental treatment for his highly aggressive brain cancer.
Byrne said Scolyer was one of Australia’s “greatest citizens” and a “local hero”, whose impressive medical achievements were matched by his passion for sport and exercise, which he had maintained to his final days.
An enthusiastic triathlete, he had trained for numerous competitions at Leichhardt Park Aquatic Centre.
“Renaming Leichhardt pool in commemoration of Professor Scolyer is a way to make sure that his life story is handed down to future generations and continues to inspire inner west children into the future,” Byrne said.
The second stage of a major redevelopment of the 1960s pool, which is visited by more than 700,000 people each year, is due to start this month. This means the outdoor 50-metre and dive pools will temporarily close.
The council said other prominent inner west aquatic centres had been named in honour of famous female athletes, including the Dawn Fraser Baths, Annette Kellerman Aquatic Centre and Fanny Durack Aquatic Centre.
Scolyer was the 2025 Inner West Citizen of the Year.
He completed his 250th Parkrun, the five-kilometre community event that attracts runners and walkers in 23 countries each Saturday morning, when he walked the GreenWay course to applause at Haberfield last June.
Scolyer hoped that, even if the treatment did not save his life, it could help future brain cancer patients.
His humility and openness about having cancer, including regular posts on social media, made Scolyer a much-loved figure around the country. His memoir, Brainstorm, which he co-wrote with Herald senior journalist Garry Maddox, became a bestseller and won social impact book of the year at the Australian Book Industry Awards.
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