Therese Spruhan is a Sydney-based swimmer, writer and photographer with a passion for telling stories and capturing images of Australia’s pools. She writes about pools and swimmers on her popular blog Swimming Pool Stories and about places to swim in travel articles for The Weekend Australian. In 2016 she was a contributor to the book, The Pool: Architecture, Culture and Identity in Australia, and to the broadsheet, From the Edge, which accompanied Australia's exhibition, The Pool at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Therese’s stories and photos were also featured in a digital newspaper when The Pool was re-exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria in 2017–2018. On her active Twitter and Instagram accounts, she connects with an international community of swimmers, writers, artists, historians, readers, commentators and travellers. She lives in Sydney’s inner west and is a regular swimmer at her local pools at Petersham, Leichhardt and Enmore.
Her first book, The Memory Pool: Australian stories of summer, sun and swimming, was published on November 1 2019 with NewSouth.
Writing
Saltwater sanctuaries essay in Sea Pools written by Chris Romer-Lee, published by Batsford Books, Sept 2023
Cocooned', story in The Women's Pool edited by Lynne Spender, published by Spinifexpress, November 2021.
'Fonty's Pool', excerpt from The Memory Pool, Galah magazine, issue 4, 2021 Water
'Like bubbles of champagne', The Guardian Australian edition, January 26 2020
Diving into The Memory Pool', NewSouth website, November 2019
Cool Beauties, The Weekend Australian, October 6-7 2018
Pooled Resources, The Weekend Australian, July 4-5 2015
Bathing Beauties, The Weekend Australian, April 12-13 2014
Into The Deep: Sydney's Ocean Pools, Travel + Indulgence, The Weekend Australian, September 6, 2014
Treasured Pools of the Past, The Australian, March 25, 2011
The Pool: Architecture, Culture and Identity in Australia, accompaniment to Australia's exhibition, The Pool at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale. (Contributor)
The Pool exhibition, National Gallery of Victoria (Contributor)