Feel like an Olympic champion as you race down one of ten competition length lanes at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre. Or, if you’re still learning the ropes, dive into one of the eight lanes of the training pool and travel at your own pace. For younger kids, you can head to Splashers Water playground to drift along the currents of Rapid River, speed down the water slide and have water rain down on you from the squirting volcanoes and tipping bucket. You’ll want to swim and play until your fingers turn wrinkly.

Conveniently located in the heart of Sydney’s CBD, the Cook and Phillip Park Aquatic Centre is easily accessible by public transport for a fun day in the water. The 50 metre indoor pool is great for swimming laps, with the public pool and slide readily available for those who just want to play. What makes the Centre stand out from the other indoor pools Sydney offers is the wave pool, which operates on weekends from 12pm. So, if you’re missing the waves of the beach but not the currents or sand, Cook and Phillip Park Aquatic Centre will be perfect for you.

Regularly recognised as one of Australia’s most ecologically sustainable aquatic centres, the Annette Kellerman Aquatic Leisure Centre is another one of Sydney’s best indoor swimming pools. With a 50 metre swimming pool, kid’s splash pool and water fountains, you and your family can choose to do laps or play on your visit. For those with a greater interest in technique, the Annette Kellerman Aquatic Leisure Centre also offers swimming lessons for all ages, and aqua aerobics classes to shape muscle and burn calories using the resistance of the water.

The Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre is another indoor swimming pool in Sydney that’ll have you feeling like a gold medal winning champion. The Centre boasts a 50 metre, heated, indoor swimming pool, as well as a smaller leisure pool for recreational use. With spas, saunas, and steam rooms, make the most of your trip and focus on your recovery and relaxation just as much as your recreation.

The Lane Cove Aquatic Centre is a smaller indoor swimming pool with facilities for exercise and leisure. Great for kids birthday parties, you can book the leisure pool at Lane Cove Aquatic Centre and make the most of their small or large inflatable slides and playgrounds. For swimming laps, the Centre has an eight lane, 25 metre pool, as well as spas and saunas for recovery and relaxation.

Of all the indoor swimming pools in Sydney, Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre is the destination for all your water fun. Along with the 50-metre Olympic size swimming pool, you’ll find a rapid river, wave pool, giant slide and inflatable playground (open on the last Sunday of every month). And get out of the way grommets, because new to Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre is the Surf Ryder, a wave simulator that lets you surf some of the biggest, gnarliest, never-ending barrels you’ll ever see on land. Get ready to hang ten, and spend hours on end on Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre’s multitude of activities.

The Warringah Aquatic Centre stands out from this list of the best indoor swimming pools in Sydney, because it’s one of the only spots to house a diving board. Open in the evening during the week and the late afternoon on the weekend, you can practice your swan dives or belly flops off the one-metre springboards, while others complete their laps in the 25 metre swimming pool alongside you. Along with their diving boards, Warringah Aquatic Centre offer swimming lessons and water aerobic classes for all ages.

Another indoor swimming pool that’s great for exercise or play is the Hurstville Aquatic Leisure Centre. The Centre is particularly popular for their kid’s birthday parties and holiday programs, meaning that you can drop the kids off and have them fully supervised while you enjoy the lap pool, or more likely the spa and sauna. With eight lanes in the lap pool of 25 metres in length, and a leisure pool for those just having a dip, there is plenty to do at the Hurstville Aquatic Leisure Centre.

Matt Damon & Ben Affleck Hunt Down Michael Jordan in First ‘Air’ Trailer is one of three Ripples Leisure Centres across the Greater Sydney area, and it’s easy to see why they’re so popular. With fun for the whole family, ranging from the 25-metre lap pool to their slide and tipping water buckets, everyone will be entertained on their day at the pool. Also, scattered across the leisure centre are mini spas, where you can enjoy the warm water and bubbles with your kids. Or, by yourself if you need some time without them.

Being one of the largest leisure facilities in the Southern Hemisphere, it would be a mistake not to mention the Sutherland Shire Leisure Centre on our list of the best indoor swimming pools in Sydney. With a 25-metre indoor lap pool as well as an indoor Water Fun Park with slides, fountains and play equipment, you’ll need the whole day to take advantage of what the Centre has to offer you and your family. Lifeguards also regularly patrol the pools, so you can rest easy knowing that everyone is being looked after across the complex. With this in mind, sliding into the spa or sweating it out in the saunas available at the Sutherland Shire Leisure Centre will be a little easier, while the kids run amuck across the different play equipment and slides.