Australian Survivor: Champions vs Contenders - Meet Shane Gould

To read more about Shane Gould, see this blog entry

In this online article in Swimming World, Ms Gould told the author, Craig Lord that 

"She made sure she could cover all the basics, like lighting a fire with a flint; working out the kind of games she would be good at, the kind she would not. While some felt a need to win at every turn, Gould identified the things she was not the best at, did what was required not to fail but wasted no more energy than necessary in pursuit of what could not be won."

Anyone who has doubts about “how she did it” needs to read her autobiography, Tumble Turns! Talk about a story of resilience and the acquisition of the mental and physical skills needed to weave your way through a communal experience and emerge a champion once again! 

Tumble Turns (1st edition and revised edition) by Shane Gould

At the time of writing the first edition (published 1999), Shane was preparing for her involvement in the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The revised edition (2003) has an additional section Part 6 -Reformation, which includes chapters on the Sydney Olympics, Learning to Swim Again and New Life New Love.

Shane Gould was somewhat a childhood hero to me (though I hate the word ‘hero’ when applied to sportspeople! To me heros rescue people from burning buildings....) . When Shane was winning her Olympic medals in Munich, I was on my way to a Girl Guide camp in Perth - crossing the continent on the Indian-Pacific Railway. I remember the excitement in the train as they turned the radio on in the passenger lounges. 

Olympic champion, Munich 1972

I had followed her brief swimming career as a teenager (she is one year older than me) and in recent years took a keen interest in her contribution to cultural history through a shared passion for the role public swimming pools play in Australian culture. 

Then Shane appeared on, and won, the third season of TV game show Australian Survivor. Anyone who has doubts about “how she did it” needs to read this book! Talk about a story of resilience and the acquisition of the mental and physical skills needed to weave your way through a communal experience and emerge a champion once again! 

Australian Survivor winner, 2018 

The chapter in the revised edition of her book, about "re-learning" how to swim, in response to changing body physiology as one ages, and the need to be able to swim without injury when not a teenager in intensive training makes interesting reading. Shane says: "To me my new style feels easier and more graceful, and the less I do the more energetic my movements are. 'Letting go' of muscle strain and tension is a mantra I repeat. It feels light lively, harmonic and very powerful". 

That was evident when watching Shane tear up the water in any swimming challenge in Survivor. It was beautiful to watch. 

The Million Dollar Mermaid by Esther Williams with Digby Diehl

 

I saw a few Esther Williams films on TV as a kid and remember the excerpts in the That's Entertainment films. Williams was a national champion swimmer who was denied the opportunity to compete at the Olympics when it was called off due to World War Two. 

She grew up in a working class area of Los Angeles, was raped in her home for two years as a young teen; had an unsuitable teenage marriage, her second marriage was to an alcoholic gambler who used all her money; husband number three was a narcissistic controller to whom she thetheres herself and all but erased her own identity - he also wouldn't have anything to do with her children. It's a wonder Williams was the strong and assertive professional woman she became. 

In the era of #metoo, William’s story dishes the facts on the casting couch and the sexual harassment of men of her generation (Johnny Weissmuller, Victor Mature, Fernando Lamas, MGM execs), as well as the playing along with it of women. 

Williams has a lot of tell-all tales about her contemporary stars: Victor Mature and Jeff Chandler, with whom she had torrid affairs; Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, complementary about - one is Shirley Maclaine.

There's also all the behind the scenes stuff about how those swimming musicals were made. 

Williams died aged 91 in 2013. Her latter career, as a swimming pool and swimsuit business operator and her role in promoting synchronised swimming as a Olympic sport, as well as her final marriage is dealt with in one chapter. 

This book is a rollicking read. Some doubt has been case by some reviewers and friends of some of the people mentioned about the veracity of it all - especially, was Jeff Chandler a cross-dresser? Whatever the truth, she hardly comes out terribly well. I was also flabbergasted about her clams to have swanned around with the Spanish dictator Franco's crowd. This included a story of a drunken Duke of Windsor and his snarky wife. 

On of the best aspects is the goings-on at MGM. 

Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and swimming: Val Kill

Franklin R partook in swimming therapy to help ameliorate the effects of his polio. He used to spend time at the Merriman Inn in Warm Springs in Georgia, where he swam in the natural spring water. In 1926 he bought the property and founded a therapy centre, which still exists. FDR died at Warm Springs. 

Meanwhile, at her property at Hyde Park, New York, Eleanor built a pool. It was a favourite family gathering place. There is home 16mm film footage recording the Roosevelts and friends and guests swimming there. One of the guests was Winston Churchill. 
In the filmed fictionalised account of the royal visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (Hyde Park on Hudson) KGVI (Samuel West) is depicted swimming there with FDR (Bill Murray).

A project is underway to restore the pool. When we visited it was covered by boards (see photos below)

Eleanor Roosevelt at the Val-Kill pool.

Val-Kill pool, Summer 1940. FDR, Missy Le Hand and Eleanor R. From https://fdrlibrary.wordpress.com/tag/val-kill/

Eleanor on the lawn by the Val-Kill pool, Summer 1959. Photo by Keith M. Taylor. From https://fdrlibrary.wordpress.com/tag/val-kill/

Eleanor's swimsuit. From https://fdrlibrary.wordpress.com/tag/val-kill/

How the pool looked on Sep 15, 2013 when we visited.

Beverley Whitfield Pool, Shellharbour

Copyright Peter de Graaff 6 July 2014

copyright Peter de Graaff 6 July 2014

Recently my friend, Peter de Graaff, who is a very talented photographer, posted these pictures on his Facebook page and his blog.

With Peter's permission I post them here.

Peter says:

"The photos were taken at the Beverley Whitfield pool in Shellharbour (near Wollongong). It is the ocean pool in the village. The photos were taken on the morning of Sunday 6 July, just after sunrise. There had been a cold snap, so it was quite chilly and only the hardy were in the pool.

The camera used was a Holga-120WPC - this is a pinhole or lensless camera, that uses 120 size film and can produce either 6 x 9 cm 0r 6 x 12 cm negatives. The film I used was FujichromeVelvia 50. This is a highly colour saturated, high contrast, fine grained, slide/transparency film that is usually developed in a 3 bath process with E6 chemistry. I instead cross processed the film using C41 chemicals, in a two bath process, that resulted in the production of colour negative film, instead of slides. Cross processing, or xpro, occurs when colour film is developed in alternative chemistry to that which has been intened by the manufacturer. The result of cross processing can be unusual tones and colours."

See more of Peter's work here  and here

copyright Peter de Graaff 6 July 2014

Information about the pool from the Shellharbour Heritage Inventory

"The Beverley Whitfield Pool is the only extant example of a 19th century ocean baths in the Shellharbour area and the only NSW ocean baths named in honour of an Olympic and Commonwealth swimmer,
Beverley Whitfileld."

[Dawn Fraser pool is a harbour pool; Ian Thorpe and Michael Wenden pools, and possibly others, are stillwater pools]

The pool dates from 1894. It was upgraded in 1994 and named to honour local Shelharbour woman, Beverley Whitfield ( 1954 - 1996). Bev, a breaststroke champion, won gold and bronze medals in the 1972 Munich Olympics, 3 gold medals in the 1970 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games and 2 silver medals at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games.

Sadly, she died in 1996 at the age of 42.

Coogee - Mina Wylie at Wylie's Baths

Sculpture of Mina (Wilhelmina)Wylie, daughter of the founder of Wylie's Baths. Sculptor: Eileen Slarke

Mina Wylie was a woman of firsts. She and friend, Fanny (Sarah Frances) Durack, were the first women to win a silver and gold medal respectively in Olympic swimming, at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. For the first time at those Olympics, two women's races were held: 100m, and 100m relay. She was also the first woman to receive the Diploma of the Royal Life Saving Society.
In 1971, Mina was inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Wylie was born in Coogee in 1890, and died in 1984.

Photo collage left - Top left: Fanny Durack (l) and Mina Wylie (r). Top right: Mina Wylie. Bottom left: Fanny Durack. Bottom right: Fanny Durack (l) and Mina Wylie (r) in Stockholm
After competing against each other in thw 1910-11 swimming season, Mina and Fanny persuaded swimming officials to let them compete in Stockholm. There were 27 competitors. The pool was built in an inlet of Stockholm Harbour. There were no lane ropes. Fanny's time in the 100m final was 1:22.2 and Mina's was 1:25.4.

Dawn Fraser Baths, Elkington Park, Balmain

The oldest swimming pool and swimming club in Australia, now named after Australian swimming legend and long -term Balmain resident, Dawn Fraser. 

Fraser grew up in Balmain, learned to swim here and was spotted by coach Harry Gallagher here at age 13. A Heritage Building, it is on the National Trust and on the Register of the National Estate. It is a salt water tidal pool on Sydney Harbour. It was built in the early 1880s. The first water polo match in Australia was played here about 1888. There's a great set of photos on flickr - here. The ones below are mine.

 

Australian Olympic swimmers Part Four: Melbourne

Above: A swap card of the swimming stadium at Olympic Park. My Mum went to the swimming here, and recalls seeing Dawn Fraser win one of her races - the 100m I think. Melbourne 22 November - 8 December 1956. 3,314 athletes (2,938 men, 376 women); 72 nations Melbourne was the first time the Olympics had been held in the southern hemisphere (Sydney, 46 years later, was the second), the first time outside Europe or the United States. This caused a problem for northern athletes who had to maintain their peak beyond their usual summer season. The equestrian events were held in Stockholm, due to Australia's strict quarantine laws. The high cost of travelling to the Games meant fewer athletes participated. Melbourne was also the first Games with live television broadcasts and the first in which all the athletes walked together as one in the Closing Ceremony. This change to procedure had been suggested to organisers by an Australian schoolboy, John Ian Wing, and remains a tradition. Television was introduced to Australia in 1956, and was the impetus for many people to buy a set. China pulled out because of the presence of Taiwan, Egypt and Lebanon didn;t attend because of the Suez crisis, and Lichetenstein, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland also withdrew, in protest at the Soviet invasion of Hungary. East and West Germany competed as a Combined Germany team. That invasion caused one of the abiding memories of the Melbourne Games, A final round water polo match between the USSR and Hungary had to be abandoned as blood was drawn in the pool. Other "stars of the games" included Australian runners Betty Cuthbert (aged 18) and Shirley Strickland. Cuthbert won the 100 and 200 metres and in the 4 x 100m relay, and Strickland added to her medal tally from 1948 and 1952, winning the 80m hurdles and as a member of the 4 x 100m relay. Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina won four golds, one silver and one bronze to be the most successful competitor. In the pool, the stand-out performers were Dawn Fraser, who went on to become the ONLY swimmer to win the same event at three Olympic Games - the 100m freestyle. Murray Rose was the first male swimmer since Johnny Weissmuller in 1924 to win two individual freestyle events (400m and 1500 m) Above: Dawn Fraser wins the 100m freestyle. Australian swimming team Gary Chapman (100m freestyle; 4 x 200m freestyle) John Devitt (100m freestyle; 4 x 200 m freestyle) Jon Donohue Murray Garretty (1500m freestyle; 4 x 200m freestyle) Terrence Gathercole (200m breaststroke) Graham Hamilton (4 x 200m freestyle) John Hayres (100m backstroke) Jon Henricks (100m freestyle; 4 x 200m freestyle) John Konrads John Marshall (200m butterfly) John Monckton (100m backstroke) Kevin O'Halloran (400m freestyle; 4 x 200m freestyle) Murray Rose (400m freestyle; 1500m freestyle; 4 x 200m freestyle) David Theile (100m backstroke) Brian Wilkinson (200m butterfly) Gary Winram (400m freestyle; 1500m freestyle) Alva Colquhoun (4 x 100m freestyle) Lorraine Crapp (100m freestyle; 400m freestyle; 4 x 100m freestyle) Jan Deane Dawn Fraser (100m freestyle; 400m freestyle; 4 x 100m freestyle) Maureen Giles-Monckton (100m butterfly) Patricia Huntingford (100m backstroke) Barbara Sargeant (200m breaststroke) Gergaynia Shelley (100m backstroke) Beverley Spargo (100m butterfly) Pam Hutchings (100m backstroke) Faith Leech (100m freestyle; 4 x 100m freestyle) Sandra Morgan (400m freestyle; 4 x 100m freestyle) Margaret Messenger (4 x 100m freestyle) Elizabeth Walker (4 x 100m freestyle) Events, Medallists, Winning and Australian Times Men 100m freestyle: G: Jon Henricks AUS 55.4 S: John Devitt AUS55.8 B: Gary Chapman AUS 56.7 ( left: Jon Henricks, Jon Devitt and Gary Chapman; right Jon Henricks)

400m freestyle: G: Murray Rose AUS 4:27.3 S: Tsuyoshi Yamanaka JPN; B: George Breen USA 4th - Kevin O'Halloran AUS 4:32.9 6th - Gary Winram AUS 4:34.9 1500m freestyle: G: Murray Rose AUS 17:58.9 S: Tsuyoshi Yamanaka JPN B: George Breen USA 4th - Murray Garretty 18:26.5 8th - Gary Winram AUS 19:06.2 (left: Murray Rose being congratulated)

100m backstroke: G: David Theile AUS 1:02.2 S: John Monckton AUS 1:03.2 B: Frank McKinney USA; 5th - John Hayres 1:05.0 200m breaststroke: G: Masaru Furukawa JPN 2:34.7 S: Masahiro Yoshimura B: JPN Charis Yunitschev URS 4th - Terence Gathercole 2:38.7 200m butterfly: G: William Yorzik USA 2:19.3 S: Takashi Ishimoto JPN B: Gyorgy Tompek HUN 5th - John Marshall AUS 2:27.2 7th - Brian Wilkinson AUS 2:29.7 4 x 200m freestyle relay: G: Australia 8:23.6 S: USA B: USSR Women 100m freestyle: G: Dawn Fraser AUS 1:02.0 S: Lorraine Crapp AUS 1:02.3 B: Faith Leech AUS 1:05.1 (right: Fraser, Crapp and Leech)

400m freestyle: G: Lorraine Crapp AUS 4:54.6 S: Dawn Fraser AUS 5:02.5 B: Sylvia Ruuska USA 6th - Sandra Morgan 5:14.3 (left: Dawn Fraser after heat 3 of the 400m)

100m backstroke: G: Judith Grinham GBR 1:12.9 S: Carin Cone USA B: Margaret Edwards GBR 8th - Gergaynia Shelley AUS 1:14.7 200m breaststroke: G: Ursula Happe GER 2:53.1 S: Eva Ezekely HUN B: Eva-Maria ten Elsen GER 100m butterfly: G: Shelley Mann USA 1:11.0 S: Nancy Ramey USA B: Mary Sears USA 5th- Beverley Spargo AUS 1:15.2 4 x 100m freestyle: G: Australia 4:17.1 S: USA B: South Africa

Australian Olympic swimmers Part One: Before World War One

The Olympic Games are over, the anthems played, medals awarded. This and subsequent posts are a small tribute to Australia's Olympic swimmers over the past century. I've been trying to remember when I first became conscious of the Olympic Games. I have no recollection of Rome (1960). I vaguely remember the controversy surrounding Dawn Fraser at Tokyo in 1964, which must have filtered in by radio, as I don't think we had a TV then. The earliest clear recollection of an Olympic Games is of Mexico in 1968. I collected a scrapbook of cuttings from various magazines, and remember the altitude presenting a challenge. Michael Wenden from Australia won gold medals in the 100m and 200m freestyle, and collapsed and sank after the 200m due to breathing difficulties. He had to be pulled from the pool. Wenden also won silver in the 800m free, and bronze in the 4 x 100m relay, with team mates. 1896 Athens 6 April - 15 April (14 nations; 241 male athletes) No Australian swimmers Edwin "Teddy" Flack was the only competitor from an Australian colony. He entered five events, winning medals in three - two athletics and one tennis. Swimming events and winners with winning times. (No women's events) 100m freestyle: G: Alfred Hajós, HUN 1:22.2 S: Efstathios Chorophas, GRE B: Otto Herschmann, AUT 500m freestyle: G: Paul Neumann, AUT 8:12.6 S: Antonios Pepanos, GRE B: Efstathios Chorophas, GRE 1200m freestyle: G: Alfred Hajós, HUN 18:22.2 S: Jean Andreou, GRE B: Efstathios Chorophas, GRE 100m freestyle (sailors): G: Ioannis Malokinis, GRE 2:20.4 S: S. Chapasis, GRE B: Dimitrios Drivas, GRE 1900 Paris 14 May - 28 October (24 nations; 997 athletes - 22 being women) The Paris Olympics had seven men's swimming events, including a 200 meter obstacle swim and underwater swimming. For the obstacle swim, the swimmers had to climb over or under poles and boats. The underwater swim gave one point for each second underwater and two points for each meter swam while underwater. The swimming events were held in the Asnières basin of the River Seine. Below: Georges Seurat: Bathing at Asnières 1883-4 Below: The start of one of the races.

Australian winner: 2 gold Frederick Lane (pictured left) was the only Australian swimmer at the Games. He won gold in 200m freestyle and 200m obstacle race! Lane was the first man to swim 100 yards in less than a minute. He did not receive gold medals, but instead received bronze sculptures of a horse and peasant girl respectively. He was also the favourite for the 100 metre freestyle, but this event was cancelled.

Swimming events, winners and winning times: 200m freestyle: G: Frederick Lane, AUS 2:25.2 S: Zoltan Halmay, HUN B: Karl Ruberl, AUT 1000m freestyle: G: John Jarvis, GBR 13:40.2 S: Otto Wahle, AUT B: Zoltan Halmay, HUN 4000m freestyle: G: John Jarvis, GBR 58:24.0 S: Zoltan Halmay, HUN B: Louis Martin, FRA 200m backstroke: G: Ernst Hoppenberg, GER S: Karl Ruberl, AUT B: Johannes Drost, HOL 200m Team Swimming: G: GER 32 S:FRA B: FRA 200m Obstacle Event: G: Frederick Lane, AUS 2:38.4 S: Otto Wahle, AUT B: Peter Kemp, GBR Underwater Swimming: G: Charles de vendeville, FRA 188.4 S: P Alexandre Six, FRA B: Peder Lykkeberg, DEN St Louis 1904 1 July - 23 November (12 nations; 651 athletes, 6 being women) St Louis nearly ended the Olympic Movement. No women competed. Demeaning events for indigenous athletes from around the world were held. The status of the Olympics fell further. It took the unofficial 1906 Games in Athens, known as the Intercalated Games, to revive interest and faith in the Olympic Movement. The 1906 Games were arranged to mark the 10th anniversary of the first Modern Olympics. It was previously thought that no Australian swimmers took part. Recently it came to light that Frank Gailey, an Australian, had erroneously been recorded as American. (He later did become a US citizen). When he won 3 silver and 1 bronze medal in St Louis he was Australian. See link to separate post about this here. The St. Louis Olympics had 9 swimming events for men. This was the first and only time that the Olympic swimmers raced in yards. This was also the first time a USA swimmer earned Olympic swimming medals. Swimming events, winners and winning times: 50 yards freestyle: G: Zoltan Halmay, HUN 28.0 S: Scott Leary, USA B: Charles Daniels, USA 100 yards freestyle: G: Zoltan Halmay HUN 1:02.8 S: Charles Daniels B: Scott Leary USA 220 yards freestyle: G: Charles Daniels USA 2:44.2 S: Francis Gailey AUS B: Emil Rausch GER 440 yards freestly: G: Charles Daniels USA 6:16.2 S: Francis Gailey AUS B: Otto Wahle AUT 880 yards freestyle: G: Emil Rausch GER 13:11.4 S: Francis Gailey AUS B: Geza Kiss HUN 1 mile freestyle: G: Emil Rausch GER 27;18.2 S: Geza Kiss HUN B: Francis Gailey AUS 100 yards backstroke: G: Walter Brack GER 1:16.8 S: Georg Hoffmann GER B: Georg Zacharias GER 440 yards breastroke: G: Georg Zacharias GER 7:23.6 S: Walter Brack GER B: Jamison Handy USA 4 x 50 yards relay: G: USA 2:04.6 S: USA B: USA Plunge for Distance: G: W.E. Dickey USA 19:05 S: Edgar Adams USA B: Leo Goodwin USA 1908 London 27 April - 31 October (22 nations; 2008 athletes, 37 being women) Australia competed with New Zealand under the title Australasia.The 1908 Olympics were originally awarded to Rome, as the IOC President, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, had wished. But in April, 1906, Mount Vesuvius erupted again, leaving a cash-strapped Italy to abruptly cancel its plans to stage the Games.

Athletes marched as teams behind the flags of their nations for the first time. This momentous occasion turned into a political squabble when American flag-bearer Martin Sheridan refused to dip the US flag to King Edward because organisers had failed to fly the Stars and Stripes beside the flags of other competing nations in the main stadium. The Finnish athletes, upset at being under Russian rule, marched without a flag. The Irish also boycotted in protest of Great Britain failing to grant them independence. Australian swimming medallist: 1 silver and 1 bronze: Frank Beaurepaire in 400m freestyle and 1500m freestyle respectively. He was aged 17. Other members of the Australian team were Theodore Tartakover, Edward Cook, Sydney Springfield, Reginald (Snowy) Baker. Snowy Baker represented Australia in 26 different sports and excelled at them all! Frank's Beaurepaire's Olympic story is incredible by today's swimmers' relatively pampered existence! On arrival in London with his trainer, Tommy Horlock, no arrangements had been made to pick them up, so they were forced to live with 16 pounds between them for a month before officials became aware of their plight. Beaurepaire trained in London for three months before the Games. Unable to afford admission to swimming pools, He was forced to train at Highgate Ponds, at temperatures of 10°C. After a 15-mile (24 km) event in the River Thames prior to the Olympics he was numbed by the cold to such an extent that he collapsed and needed to be pulled from the water to avoid drowning. Arriving at the Olympics, the competitors were confronted with a pool dug into the athletics track, with no filtration or chlorination, effectively being a muddy pond.

Right: Frank Beaurepaire Swimming events, winners and winning times. (No women's events) 100m freestyle: G: Charles Daniels USA 1:05.6 S: Zoltan Halmay HUN B: Harald Julin SWE 400m freestyle: G: Henry Taylor GBR 5;36.8 S: Frank Beaurepaire, AUS B: Otto Scheff AUT 1500m freestyle: G: Henry Taylor GBR S: Sydney Battersby GBR B: Frank Beaurepaire AUS 100m backstroke: G: Arno Bieberstein GER 1:24.6 S: Ludwig Dam DEN B: Herbert Haresnape GBR 200m breastroke: G: Frederick Holman GBR 3:09.2 S: William Robinson GBR B: Pontus Hansson SWE 4 x 200m freestyle: G: Great Britain 10:55.6 S: Hungary B: USA 1912 Stockholm 5 May - 22 July (28 nations; 2407 athletes, 48 being women) The Swedes ensured the Games were a stand-alone event (not attached to a fair like in Paris and St Louis) and the schedule was shortened to two months. A 22,000-seat stadium and a new swimming pool were built, and accommodation provided for visiting athletes. These games introduced the use of unofficial electronic timing devices (capable of registering to the tenth of a second) for track and swimming events. Once again Australia and New Zealand competed as Australasia, though this was the last time. New Zealand swimmer Malcolm Champion carried the flag in the Opening Ceremony. The Stockholm Olympics had 7 swimming events for men and, for the first time, two events for women. The women swam a 100 meter freestyle and a 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay. Sarah ‘Fanny’ Durack became the first female swimmer to win Olympic gold. She set a new world record in each round of her event.

Australian swimming team: Les Boardman, Malcolm Champion, Sarah 'Fanny' Durack, Harold Hardwick, Cecil Healy, William Longworth, Frank Schryver, Theodore Tartakover, Wilhelmina Wylie.

Above: Harold Hardwick, William Longworth at the Stockholm Olympics, showing the swimming area.

2 gold : Fanny Durack - 100m freestyle; Leslie Boardman, Malcolm Champion (a New Zealander - Australia and NZ competed as 'Australasia'), Cecil Healy and Harold Hardwick - 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay, won in the unofficial record time of 10 minutes 11.6 seconds. 2 silver: Cecil Healy - 100 metre freestyle; Wilhelmina (Mina) Wylie - 100 metre freestyle. 2 bronze: Harold Hardwick - 400m and 1500m freestyle. Fanny Durack and Mina Wylie were initially refused permission to compete in the Olympics. The New South Wales Ladies Swimming Association later allowed them to go provided they bore their own expenses. Durack set a new world record in the heats of the 100 m freestyle. In the late 1910s, she held every women's swimming world record from 100 m to a mile. Mina's father, H. A. Wylie created and operated Wylies Baths at Coogee and he and her brothers gave exhibitions of 'trick and fancy swimming' at Sydney swimming carnivals. Photo collage below: Top left: Fanny Durack (l) and Mina Wylie (r). Top right: Mina Wylie. Bottom left: Fanny Durack. Bottom right: Fanny Durack (l) and Mina Wylie (r) in Stockholm

Leslie Boardman: Not much known about him. It is hypothesized that he was chosen because he was a team-mate at the Sydney Swimming Club of Harold Hardwick and Cecil Healy. Below: Left Cecil Healy. Right Harold Hardwick Cecil Healy was killed in the First World War at Mont St Quentin, in an attack on a German trench. In Stockholm, Healy entered the 100m event with fellow Australian Bill Longworth and American Duke Kahanamoku. All three qualified for the semi-final, with Kahanamoku clearly the quickest. Healy and Longworth then qualified from the first semifinal, but the three Americans, who were scheduled to qualify in the second semi-final did not, due an error by their team management. However, Healy intervened and assisted in an appeal to allow the Americans to swim another special race in order to qualify for the final. Despite protestation from other delegations, the Americans were allowed a separate race, with Kahanamoku qualifying for the final. In the final, Kahanamoku won easily, by 1.2s, over a bodylength, with Healy in second place. Healy's sportsmanship effectively cost him the gold medal. Healy was a Manly lifesaver and was awarded the Royal Humane Society silver medal for saving numerous lives. Harold Hardwick became a professional boxer. Swimming, boxing, gymnastics, water-polo and lifesaving were Hardwick's main interests (he was a foundation member of the Manly Surf Club), but he also played Rugby Union for New South Wales against a visiting American universities team (1910) and was a member of the Eastern Suburbs premiership team (1913). In 1914 he won the State amateur heavyweight boxing championship. He became the the Department of Education as supervisor of swimming and was responsible for organizing holiday swimming schools throughout the State. In 1938 he directed the schoolchildren's display at Australia's 150th Anniversary Celebrations. He retired as deputy-director of physical education in February 1953. The Harold Hardwick memorial trophy is awarded annually to the winner of the New South Wales 100-metres schoolboys' title. It bears the inscription: 'In memory of a great sportsman, soldier and gentleman'. Swimming events, winners and winning times Men 100m freestyle: G: Duke Kahanamoku USA 1:03.4 S: Cecil Healey AUS B: Kenneth Huszagh USA 400m freestyle: G: George Hodgson CAN 5:24.4 S: John Hatfield GBR B: Harold Hardwick AUS 1500m freestyle: G: George Hodgson CAN 22:00.0 S: John Hatfield GBR B: Harold Hardwick AUS 100m backstroke: G: Harry Hebner USA 1:21.2 S: Otto Fahr GER B: Paul Kellner GER 200m breastroke: G: Walter Bathe GER 3:01.8 S: Wilhelm Lützow GER B: Kurt Malisch GER 400m breastroke: G: Walter bathe GER 6:29.6 S: Thor Henning SWE B: Percy Courtman GBR 4 x 200m freestyle relay: G: Australia 10.11.6 S: USA B: Great Britain Women 100m freestyle: G: Fanny Durack AUS 1.22.2 S: Wilhelmina Wylie AUS B: Jeannie Fletcher GBR 4 x 100m freestyle relay: G: Great Britain 5:52.8 S: Germany B: Austria