They’re used to making a splash, but some of Australia’s most famous Olympians were left high and dry when they turned out in force to support retired swimmer Michael Klim at the invite-only first event staged at the revamped $122 million North Sydney Olympic Pool on Wednesday – weeks before it opens to the public.
The star-studded gathering aimed to raise awareness of the Klim Foundation, which Klim and his fiancee Michelle Owen founded after the swimming legend was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune condition, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), in 2020.
Olympians Kieren Perkins, Ian Thorpe, Daniel Kowalski, Bronte Campbell and Libby Trickett were among about 250 people who were given a first glimpse at the pool from the grandstand overlooking Sydney Harbour. Also in the crowd were Australian Olympic Committee chief executive Mark Arbib; entertainment reporter Richard Wilkins and his model son Christian; and actors Rodger Corser and Emma Lung.
A safety fence around the outdoor pool was temporarily taken down, but the water remained off-limits.
The pool closed for a controversial overhaul in February 2021. It was supposed to reopen in 2022, but cost blowouts and delays frustrated the project. It is due to finally reopen in the coming months, with entry set to cost $11 per person.
Mayor Zoe Baker said the decision to host the event before the long-awaited reopening was “a one-off” for Klim because the work of his foundation aligned with the values of the council and community. “It’s about inclusion, accessibility, community and connection,” Baker said.
Baker said work on the pool had been completed, and the site would be handed over to the council in the next couple of weeks.
“That will be exciting because the moment the council takes it back over we’ll be inviting the community to come in for tours while it’s being prepared to be opened, and the opening won’t be really that long after that,” Baker said.
Perkins, who stressed he was “absolutely and completely retired”, said he was not tempted to jump into the water; however, he said the pool had to be “one of the best spots in the country”.
“You can’t beat the view. I reckon if you need to train somewhere, you cannot do better than this. It’s absolutely glorious. I have been swimming it once or twice, and enjoyed it every time.”
Perkins said showing up to support Klim and the work of the foundation was “incredibly important”.
“I think it’s one of those moments where a friend in need puts out a call, and everybody’s happy to drop everything, be here, be involved and raise awareness for CRDP and the work that the foundation is doing.”
Devil Wears Prada draws social media strivers to the State Theatre
The 2020s have delivered no shortage of movies whose hype outshines what ends up on the screen.
And David Frankel, the director of the 2006 hit movie The Devil Wears Prada, was always going to face tough competition from the Walt Disney Company’s marketing department when he returned to direct the movie’s sequel some 20 years later.
The press tour has already set a high bar. Anna Wintour, the movie’s spiritual muse, showed up to the world premiere in New York on April 20.
The sequel has triggered a wave of pre-emptive nostalgia, as those who came of age watching it now find themselves editors. There’s also the merch, now customary for major new releases such as this, including special edition cans of Diet Coke.
And at the State Theatre in Sydney on Tuesday night, a string of actors and other notables were joined by a horde of influencers and hangers-on to get a piece of the action. The headline act: the Australian actor Patrick Brammall, who appeared in a Q+A session ahead of a special screening of the movie, where he appears as a love interest of one of the main characters.
Among the guests were Olympians Jessica and Noemie Fox, along with actors Harriet Dyer, who appeared on the red carpet alongside husband Brammall, and Rebecca Breeds, and the anonymous Instagrammer known as Fashion Critical. Abbie Chatfield, the former reality TV star turned podcaster was also there, as was the everywhere man Christian Wilkins, son of Richard, and comedian Kate Langbroek.
By all accounts, it was a good night. The special edition Diet Coke was well stocked, and guests were offered Mecca gift bags and branded popcorn. The influencer set, crucially, seemed to be having a good time as well. We hear they were so determined to squeeze every last drop of content out of the event that the bathroom mirrors in the heritage-listed building were left with suction cup marks.
Well done, Disney marketing. We look forward to seeing if film critics share the enthusiasm when review embargoes lift.
Australian art treasures go under the hammer for more than $20 million
The eyes of prestige art collectors were firmly fixed on an extraordinary collection of artworks including prized pieces by Brett Whiteley, Arthur Boyd, Jeffrey Smart, Charles Blackman, William Dobell, Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton and Albert Namatjira, that went to auction on Tuesday evening, fetched a combined total of more than $20 million.
The auction, titled Important Australian and International Art, was conducted by leading auction house Smith & Singer in Sydney with “spirited bidding” reported across the saleroom, telephones and online platforms for the featured 100 lots.
Topping the sale was Brett Whiteley’s Woman on the Beach Reading an Art Catalogue 1980, which was drawn from the Loti and Victor Smorgon Collection and sold for $3.75 million against an estimate of $3 million to $4 million.
The distinctive work, which hung for years in the home of the late Victor and Loti Smorgon in Melbourne, was purchased by the couple in 1981.
It was the only piece in the auction to be identified as being from that collection.
The works up for grabs came from various private collections in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, as well as The Lee and Brian Johnstone Collection, The Millicent Francklyn Thompson Collection and the Leonard Dodds Collection.
Another sale highlight was Russell Drysdale’s Drovers on the Barkly’s, which made $2,362,500, well above its pre-auction estimate of $1 million to $1.5 million, while Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly and Horse 1955 made an impressive $3.375 million, significantly above its expected range of $1.2 million to $1.8 million.
A work by Cressida Campbell, titled Parsley Bay, Sydney (1992), made $750,000 against an estimate of $200,000 to $300,000, a piece by Clarice Beckett titled Evening, Church Street Bridge, made $237,500, well above its $80,000 to $120,000 estimate, while a Grace Cossington Smith work titled The Sideboard 1959, made $812,500, far above its estimate of $400,000 to $600,000.
Smith & Singer chairman Geoffrey Smith was naturally delighted by the result.
John Buckley is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.
Fiona Byrne is the CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.