Gold medal heroes Ben Austin and Ian Brien help celebrate Dr. Nat Barton carnival anniversary

Roughly 200 young swimmers attended the carnival while special guests included members of the Barton family and two of Wellington's most famous sporting sons.

Paralympic gold medalist Ben Austin and Olympic champion Ian O'Brien were both in attendance to honour a carnival that played a role in their own development.

"It would be one of the oldest carnivals in the western area and probably up there with any of them in the country," Austin said.

"It's really nice to celebrate the town's contribution to Australian swimming. If I step outside of myself, it's not bad for a small town to product two gold medallists and it's because of a strong swim culture based on that swim club first created by Dr. Nat Barton.

"That's why it was such a good thing for both of us to celebrate. It was more than us, it was his great achievement and the carnival he created is still flourishing today."

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Austin competed in three Paralympic Games while O'Brien won gold in the 200m breaststroke at the Tokyo 1964 Games.

"A lot of people take it for granted," Austin said of O'Brien's trailblazing.

"They're used to seeing his plaque on the old pool but they might not understand what an achievement it was for a 17-year-old to go to Tokyo from a small town."

Austin was also a hit with those in attendance. His collection of medals - including the golds he won at both the 2004 and 2008 Games - proved hugely popular with the youngsters at the Wellington Aquatic Leisure Centre.

"It's good to see the excitement in the kids' eyes and see them smile," he added.

"I got to swim a relay with the kids and one of the kids was very excited I was swimming with him and it's always good to give back. It's always nice to get back in touch and be involved in that carnival atmosphere."

As well as hearing of Austin and O'Brien's achievements, all those at the pool got a bit of a history lesson on Dr. Barton and swimming in Wellington.

A swim club was created early last century due to a number of drownings in the region and eventually a pool was built.

It was there were athletes like O'Brien learnt to swim while Austin honed his craft in a newer pool which was built in the 1950s.

There was another move to a new pool in the years that followed before the current upgraded Wellington Aquatic Leisure Centre was unveiled in 2019.

"It was just the community spirit," Austin said of his highlights of the weekend.

"People stopped and honoured these things and recognised past achievements, but celebrated in the present moment that the carnival is still going and flourishing.

"How often does anything get to a 100-year celebration? That was the most impressive thing, the effort of the community and the respect shown by other towns."

The action in the pool was another highlight.

Western area swimmers from Dubbo to Nyngan, Mudgee to Cobar and many places in between attended the event and plenty caught the eye.

Austin and O'Brien spent time together watching, impressed by the skill level and technique of young swimmers now compared to their own time rising through the ranks.

As pleasing as it was being a part of the event and celebrating the history, Austin just hopes it can continue on long into the future and swimming in Wellington continues to thrive given the sport, like so many others, often struggles to keep athletes involved after their teenage years.

"It was good to see 200 kids there but the next step I'd like to see is movement from Swimming Australia to keep these country kids going," he said.

"It's hard with the seasonal shift and after that six months or so off it's hard to come back."

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