Chris was a Founding Director of one of Australia’s largest not-for-profit community ocean swimming events, held annually at Manly Beach, Sydney. The Cole Classic is a renowned fixture on the Sydney Ocean Swimming calendar, raising funds for Manly Life Saving Club and various community charities. View the 2023 Cole Classic here.
In 1982 Chris’s father Graham Cole wrote:
“The event is not a race but a challenge to all persons to stretch themselves in body and mind to swim a reasonable distance through surf. It will, I hope, be an incentive to persons to involve themselves in the self-discipline required to get fit, obtain confidence in their ability through swimming, to achieve pride in having performed something that is perhaps slightly above average and finally to receive (in the form of an appropriately prepared certificate or medal) some recognition of their accomplishment”.
This urban settlement was created for disadvantaged families in the Fiji Islands. It was conceived and realised by the dedication and hard work of a single man, Peter Drysdale, who says:
“I thought if we were to break the cycle of squatter settlements where people were being consistently exploited while genuinely seeking a better life, then we would have to build our own subdivision”.
Chris has an ongoing architectural advisory role for the community and recently designed the ‘Experimental Cottage Industry’ workspaces, bus shelter and a new pre-school classroom.
