Sydney pool renamed after cancer hero Professor Richard Scolyer

A popular Sydney swimming pool is getting a new name to honour a local legend.

Leichhardt Park Aquatic Centre will be renamed the Richard Scolyer Aquatic Centre. The Inner West Council voted on it Tuesday night, just over a week after the renowned cancer researcher died at 59.

Scolyer was Australian of the Year in 2024. He died on June 7 from glioblastoma — the same aggressive brain tumour he was diagnosed with three years ago after a seizure in Poland.

Instead of giving up, he tried an experimental treatment cooked up by his colleague, Professor Georgina Long. They'd used immunotherapy to beat advanced melanoma before. Scolyer hoped that even if it didn't save him, it might help the next person.

Mayor Darcy Byrne said it was “only right that Richard Scolyer’s enormous legacy be honoured and upheld in his own community.” The council reckons the pool's $55 million redevelopment makes this the perfect time.

Scolyer wasn't just a scientist. He was a triathlete who trained at that very pool for competitions. He kept exercising right up to his final days. Last June, he completed his 250th Parkrun — walking the GreenWay course in Haberfield to applause.

Byrne called him one of Australia's “greatest citizens” and a “local hero.” He said renaming the pool means Scolyer's story will “continue to inspire inner west children into the future.”

“It’s only right that Richard Scolyer’s enormous legacy be honoured and upheld in his own community.” — Mayor Darcy Byrne

The 1960s pool gets more than 700,000 visitors a year. Stage two of its redevelopment kicks off this month, which means the outdoor 50-metre and dive pools will close temporarily.

Other inner west aquatic centres already carry names of famous female athletes — Dawn Fraser Baths, Annette Kellerman Aquatic Centre, and Fanny Durack Aquatic Centre. Now Scolyer joins that list.

The council also voted to make the future Inner West GreenWay Fun Run an annual fundraiser. Money will go to medical organisations Scolyer dedicated his life to. His family suggested donations to the Richard Scolyer Chair in Brain Cancer Research at Chris O'Brien Lifehouse or the Brain Cancer Group.

Scolyer's humility and openness about his cancer — including regular social media posts — made him a beloved figure across Australia. His memoir, Brainstorm, co-written with journalist Garry Maddox, became a bestseller and won social impact book of the year at the Australian Book Industry Awards.

Stage two of the pool redevelopment starts this month. The outdoor pools close temporarily. The new name will be official once the work is done. The fun run fundraiser will start whenever the GreenWay event returns.

For Scolyer's family and the inner west community, the renamed pool is a lasting tribute to a man who refused to let cancer define him — and who kept swimming, running, and researching right to the end.