As the Alpine Shire suffered through a heatwave last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, to emerge relatively unscathed, businesses, locals and visitors found a number of fun ways to keep cool.

Supermarkets offered free bottles of ice water as a precaution against heatstroke, swimming pools and splash parks operated for longer hours and in general, people kept exertions to a minimum, as the mercury rose.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology website, Myrtleford achieved the highest temperature over the three-day period, registering 44.3 degrees by 4:12pm last Wednesday.

Bright saw its highest temperature recorded at 4pm on Thursday, at 43.3 degrees and Mount Beauty's hottest day was Friday, with 39 degrees by 5pm.

Venue manager of the Mount Beauty Swimming Pool and Sports Complex, Helen L'Huillier, said the highest swimmer numbers were achieved on Monday and Wednesday last week; the maximum allowed in the facility at any one time.

"We've had a lot of people in the pool, as it gets to that scorching 39 degrees," she said.

"By 3pm there were 75 people in the water; we've had to add an extra lifeguard for safety.

"We do have people here who don't have air-con at home; we've got a well-stocked kiosk, lots of ice creams and icy poles available for everyone.

"If they're not in the pool, people have been sitting under the shade, covered by wet towels."

The Mount Beauty Pool opened for its first extended hours of the season, with the facility closing at 8pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights due to the heat.

Until Friday, 23 January, the complex has two swim teachers scheduled to host 14 Vic Swim lessons per day, from Monday to Friday.

Manger at the Bright Sports Centre, Matthew Reed, said the facility also saw an increase in visitation during the heatwave.

"We've had a fair few people coming into our sports centre," he said.

"The past few days have definitely been busier than our normal school holiday traffic in the pool.

"At the moment, our 'Go Swim' lessons program isn't actually running, but we're looking forward to resuming from Sunday, 18 January.

"And it's definitely very busy in our gym; perhaps because of the heatwave people don't want to exercise out of doors."

VicSwim instructor, Leesa Thomas, who was working at the Myrtleford Swimming Pool last week, said they were well prepared with a number of policies in place if the heat became too much.

"This heatwave is a great educational opportunity for us all," she said.

"We ran all of our programs with only a limited exercise regime and incorporated personal safety measures.

"The kids learned how to act in a heatwave and learned how to watch for signs people might be suffering from heatstroke: headache, breathing difficulties, overheating and so on.

"The kids said 'if you've got a headache, you need to drink water straight away'; they were very receptive.

"Instead of pushing the kids to do laps, we did more activities, to accommodate for the extra heat."

While the heat reached as high as 44 degrees above water, in the pool it was approximately 35 degrees, which Jenni Sgambelloni said was very pleasant, as she took two of her grandchildren to the pool for the afternoon.

"It's beautiful in the water," she said.

"It's lovely the pool has opened up for extended hours."

Grandson, Keeley Sgambelloni said his favourite part of swimming was getting to cannon-ball into the pool and play with his cousin, Carlo.