9 September 2026
Thebarton Aquatic Centre
Our newest centre, and the one whose members come back most often. Thebarton members visit 1.6 times a week, more than at any other centre we run.
Thebarton Aquatic Centre opened in July 2024 and recorded 917 visits in its first month. Last year it recorded 114,030.
Two things about the year stand out. Its members come back more often than members at any other centre we run. And teenagers and adults learning to swim are a larger part of the program here than anywhere else in the network, so its average swim student is 8.3 years old against 6.8 across our centres.
114,030
visits to the centre
57.5
Net Promoter Score, against a YMCA benchmark of 50
$1,397,773
estimated community benefit
From 917 visits to 114,030
Thebarton opened in July 2024 and recorded 917 visits in its first month. By the end of that first year it was running at 7,149 a month. Across 2025-26 it recorded 114,030 visits, and a membership that grew 16% and comes back more often than at any other centre we run.
2024-25 was the centre’s opening year, so the two years are not directly comparable.
Who comes to Thebarton
Six in ten Thebarton members are over 55, the second highest share of any centre we run. In its second year the centre has become a place where older adults train and swim regularly, and they come back more often than members anywhere else in the network. Age bands below are grouped, because the membership is small enough that finer detail would identify people.
Share of each age band, Thebarton against the state
Thebarton members visit 1.6 times a week. No other centre we run gets above 1.5.
Thebarton opened with no membership at all. Two years on it has one that skews older than almost anywhere we run and uses the place more than anyone.
What members said
We ask our members how likely they are to recommend us. Thebarton scored 57.5, against a YMCA benchmark of 50.
57.5
Net Promoter Score
Lovely teachers and lots of patience. I came here as a kid, so I'm excited my kids get to experience the fun I did.
Swimming lesson parent, Thebarton
I can see the way my daughter is getting better and better at swimming lessons.
Swimming lesson parent, Thebarton
Mostly a swim school
More than half of everything that happens at Thebarton is a swimming lesson, against roughly a fifth at our other pool centres. The gym and the pool deck serve a smaller share of visits and a membership that comes back more often than any other we run.
Share of total participation, 2024-25
Comparison here is against the average of our other pool centres, with Thebarton left out of its own benchmark.
What the activity is worth
$1,397,773
Estimated community benefit created at Thebarton in 2025-26.
Social Value puts a dollar figure on the community benefit created when people are physically active. It is an estimate, built from real participation data at this centre, and it covers health, education and employment outcomes where there is an agreed, evidence-based method for converting activity into monetary terms.
What the estimate covers
Select any indicator to read what it covers.
Value only accrues above a threshold
Turning up does not automatically create measurable value. A participant has to be active often enough to reach a physical activity threshold before anything is counted.
Across our centres, 43,735 people took part in an activity last year and 12,162 reached a threshold. Around 28 in every 100. That is normal for a community recreation centre, and the threshold is an invitation rather than a test.
$1,105,723 of that is teaching people to swim
Reduced risk of drowning is 79% of the community benefit generated at Thebarton. Across our nine recreation centres it is 55%, and it is the single largest component of the model. A swimming lesson is the one thing a centre does that changes whether a child is safe in water for the rest of their life.
How much of the centre the model sees
Roughly 78% of what happens at Thebarton is visible to the model. The figure above is real, and it is also an understatement.
1.6
average visits per week per member, against 1.29 across the state
The methodology comes from a 2018 study by KPMG, commissioned by the Australian Sports Commission, which put the value of Australia’s community sport infrastructure at more than $16.2 billion a year, including $4.9 billion in health benefit. ActiveXchange applies that framework to real participation records at each facility. Each participant is placed in a demographic segment with known health risks and associated costs, and their activity, covering how often they attend, for how long and doing what, produces dollar values against specific outcomes. More than 200 councils and venues across Australia use the same model. We do not produce the methodology and we cannot adjust it.
Turning up does not automatically create measurable value. A participant has to be active often enough to reach a physical activity threshold. Acute benefits are assessed monthly, in any month where activity averages out to the weekly physical activity guidelines. Chronic benefits are assessed annually and also require the participant to meet the monthly threshold in at least six separate months. Across our centres, 43,735 people took part in an activity last year and 12,162 reached a threshold, around 28 in every 100. That is normal for a community recreation centre. The threshold is an invitation, not a test.
ActiveXchange recalibrated its model during 2025. The practical effect is that the threshold for generating value went up. Activity is now measured on the actual length and intensity of a session, and a participant has to sustain it across the year rather than have one strong month. Figures we published before 2025 sit on the earlier model and are not directly comparable with the figure above.
Social Value counts visits and participations recorded through our membership and point of sale systems. Casual customers, user groups and social stadium sport are not counted, so the figure understates activity at Thebarton. Some benefits cannot sensibly be priced and are left out altogether. Recreation centres build social connection and inclusion, strengthen community pride and identity, raise levels of trust and reduce anti-social behaviour. None of that appears in the figure.
Social Value indicates the scale of community benefit generated by activity at this centre. It does not count individual health outcomes for any person, and it does not measure how well the centre is run. A centre can improve while its Social Value falls, and the reverse is also true.
Social Value figures are produced using the ActiveXchange Social Value model, developed in partnership with KPMG and based on the Value of Community Sport Infrastructure framework commissioned by the Australian Sports Commission. The model is used by more than 200 councils and venues across Australia. Figures are estimates. YMCA South Australia does not produce the methodology.
Reporting period 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026. Participation composition figures are from 2024-25. Written with AI assistance and reviewed by YMCA South Australia, in line with our AI Safe Use Policy.