Women's swimming in Australia
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While not being urged to avoid competition, women had few opportunities to compete in sport in Australia until the 1880s. After that date, new sporting facilities were being built around the country and many new sport clubs were created. For
swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
, the rapid expansion of facilities took place during the 1880s and the 1890s. Compared to the past when the whole of the swimming community was made up of males, currently 55 percent of the Australian swimming membership is made up of women. Not only do females dominate swimming in the pool but there are more than 5,500 female coaches in the swimming world in Australian and over 2,000 female technical officials.


History


1800s

During the middle part of the 1800s, swimming in Australia was segregated by sex. The times and facilities allocated to women at existing swimming clubs were inferior to those of their male counterparts. Australian women were forced by men to wear swim costumes that covered them up in order to prevent men from staring at them in a suggestive manner.


1860s

In 1867, two international women swimmers visited Australia:
Alice Moon Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...
and Elphinstone Dick. Dick had set an English swimming distance record when she swam from Shoreham to Brighton, a distance of in less than ideal weather. Dick stayed in
Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung–Taungurung language, Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the St ...
for two years and taught many women how to swim.


1900s

On 12 March 1904 a 12-year-old schoolgirl, J Hill, won the 50 yards event at what was described as the first carnival of the Australian Swimming Championships, held in Sydney at Rushcutters Bay. In the same year a swim carnival exclusively for women was held at the Booroodabin Baths in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
. During this period, women in Australia wore swim suits that covered themselves from knee to the neck. Another early swim carnival for women in Queensland was organised in 1907 in
Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...
. One of the teams competing in it was the Brisbane City Club, featuring a relay team with V. Nichol, F. Carr, B. Chapman and M. Mahoney. During the 1900s, a number of publicly recognised female swimmers emerged, engaging in swimming and diving exhibitions as well as competitive swimming. These notably included
Annette Kellerman Annette Marie Sarah Kellermann (6 July 1887 – 6 November 1975) was an Australian professional swimmer, vaudeville star, film actress, and writer. Kellermann was one of the first women to wear a one-piece bathing costume, instead of the then ...
and
Beatrice Kerr Beatrice Maude Williams (née Kerr; 30 November 1887 – 3 August 1971), known professionally as Beatrice Kerr, was an Australian swimmer, diver, and aquatic performer. Born in Melbourne, Kerr learnt to swim at Albert Park Lake, and won medals ...
, who was billed as "Australia's Champion Lady Swimmer and Diver" and inspired others to follow their example. Swimming was a popular women's spectator sport in
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...
during the 1900s. Women attended many swimming events including ones held at the baths in Brisbane. A popular swimming location for Queensland women during the 1900s and 1910s was the water around
Wellington Point Wellington Point is a residential locality in the City of Redland, Queensland, Australia. In the , Wellington Point had a population of 12,350 people. The suburb is a popular seaside destination within the Brisbane metropolitan area and is notab ...
. During this period, some popular swimming locations, like Yeppon's beach, had sheds for women to change in. These sheds prevented men from looking at women while they changed into their bathing costume. Swimming was a sport enjoyed in rural, bush areas in Australia during the 1900s. The local waterhole was used for swimming and cooling down during the warm summers, but was more often a place for men and women to congregate and socialise.


1910s

On 15 July 1912, at the Stockholm Olympics,
Fanny Durack Sarah Frances "Fanny" Durack (27 October 1889 – 20 March 1956), also known by her married name Fanny Gately, was an Australian competition swimmer. From 1910 until 1918 she was the world's greatest female swimmer across all distances from f ...
became the first Australian to win a swimming event on a world stage and first Australian female to win an Olympic gold medal. At the meet she won the 100m in a time of 1 minute and 25 seconds, just beating fellow Australian
Mina Wylie Wilhelmina "Mina" Wylie (27 June 1891 – 6 July 1984) was one of Australia's first two female Olympic swimming representatives, along with friend Fanny Durack.Hirst,Warwic"Wylie, Wilhelmina (Mina) (1891–1984)"Australian Dictionary of Biogra ...
. Miss Durack and Miss Wylie had been training for the London Onlympics in the same year. Unfortunately restrictions were put in place during the Olympics to make sure that women couldn't compete in events that men were also competing in. This meant that the girls had to pull out of the Olympics and decided instead to enter the 100m event, the only event open to females at the time, at the Stockholm Olympics. Around the mid-1910s, women faced similar participation barriers that women in other sports like
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
faced during the same period. These restrictions included reduced times in which to swim, changing areas and lack of comparable facilities that men had. By 1914, women were beginning to speak out in
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...
about these conditions asking for greater access to the facilities or new women only facilities to be built. The government complied in some cases and some pools began to ease restrictions on female usage of the facilities. The giving in on the part of swimming officials was because of recognition about the importance of physical activity for women's physical and psychological health.


1920s

In 1922, a committee in Australia investigated the benefits of physical education for girls. They came up with several recommendations regarding what sports were and were not appropriate for girls to play based on the level of fitness required. It was determined that for some individual girls that for medical reasons, the girls should probably not be allowed to participate in tennis, netball, lacrosse, golf, hockey, and cricket. Soccer was completely medically inappropriate for girls to play. It was medically appropriate for all girls to be able to participate in, so long as they were not done in an overly competitive manner, swimming, rowing, cycling and horseback riding. One of Australia's best swimmers in the first part of the twentieth century was Mabel Springfield. She was selected for the
1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...
but could not go. She went to the
1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...
as a chaperone for the Australian women's swim team.


1930s

In 1934, the
Victorian Women's Centennial Sports Carnival Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...
was held. The event was organised by the
Victorian Women's Amateur Sports Council Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...
and held at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds. The purpose was to increase women's interest in sport by providing them opportunities to play. Sports that were included on the programme included cricket, field hockey, women's basketball, bowls, rowing, swimming, athletics, rifle shooting, baseball, golf, tennis and badminton. There were over 1,000 bowlers involved over the course a week. Cricket featured a match versus a visiting English side.
Women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...
featured a Victorian side playing against a representative all Australian side. There was a day for watersports such as swimming and rowing. A tennis tournament was held. A field hockey tournament featuring Australian, Kiwi and Fijian teams was played.


1940s

The
second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
was disruptive to women's swimming in Australia. Some swimmers players, such as Rhoda Cavill, quit competitive swimming during the war. Others, such as
Judy Joy Davies Judith Joy Davies (5 June 1928 – 27 March 2016) was an Australian former backstroke swimmer of the 1940s and 1950s, who won a bronze medal in the 100-metre backstroke at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. At the national level, she won 17 Au ...
Evelyn De Lacy continued. De Lacy's only break came in the period around the birth of her child. Australian women's sports had an advantage over many other women's sport organisations around the world in the period after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Women's sport organisations had largely remained intact and were holding competitions during the war period. This structure survived in the post war period. Women's sport were not hurt because of food rationing, petrol rationing, population disbursement, and other issues facing post-war Europe.


1990s

Australian women like Shelly Taylor-Smith and Susan Maroney were beating Australian male competitors in long distance swim races.


2000s

2000 was a big year for sports in Australia where they held the 2000 Olympic Games. There games were also the celebration of 100 years of women's participation in the Olympic Games. There were some amazing and outstanding achievements by women. Some include Susie O’Neill who won the women's 200m freestyle and silver in the 200m butterfly, Leisel Jones got silver in the 100m breaststroke, Petria Thomas got bronze in the 200m butterfly, the women's 4x200 freestyle relay got silver and the women's 4 × 100 medley got silver.


Memorable Female Swimmers

* Dawn Fraser * Susie O’Neill * Stephanie Rice * Leisel Jones * Petria Thomas * Libby Tricket * Lorraine Crapp * Clare Dennis * Jodie Henry * Melanie Schlanger * Emily Seebohm * Jessicah Shipper * Bronte Campbell * Cate Campbell * Emma McKeon * Brooke Hanson * Joanne Griggs


Participation

In 1940, a study of 314 women in New Zealand and Australia was done. Most of the women in the study were middle class, conservative, Protestant and white. The study found that 183 participated in sport. The fourth most popular sport that these women participated in was swimming, with 25 having played the sport. Swimming is one of Australia's sports with the highest rates of participation by women. 11.8% of Australian women regularly swim. This is behind only walking and aerobics. For more than 100 years, swimming has provided Australian women the chance to make their mark on the international and national stage, with not many other sports allowing females to compete in. In the latest National Team, female competitors made up 55 per cent of the team and in the communities there are more than 5000 female coaches and more than 2000 female officials.


International

Australia has a long history of sending competitors to international events.


Commonwealth and Empire Games

In 1935, a decision was made to allow women to compete in the
1938 Empire Games The 1938 British Empire Games was the third British Empire Games, the event that evolved to become the Commonwealth Games. Held in Sydney, Australia from 5–12 February 1938, they were timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary (150 year ...
. The decision was made that year that the Australians were to host the event and they were the ones who would determine what events would be competed. The women's events that were to be included were swimming and athletics, events that Australia was to dominate in. During the 1950s, Australian women dominated the swimming competitions at the Empire Games. The most famous of these swimmers were Marjory McQuade,
Lorraine Crapp Lorraine Joyce Thurlow, (born 1 October 1938), née Crapp, is a former Olympic swimming champion representing Australia. In world swimming history, Crapp earned a place as the first woman to break the five-minute barrier in the 400 m freestyle ...
and
Dawn Fraser Dawn Fraser (born 4 September 1937) is an Australian freestyle champion swimmer and former politician. She is one of only four swimmers to have won the same Olympic individual event three times – in her case the women's 100-metre freestyle. ...
.


Olympics

The first Olympic gold medal to be officially awarded to a woman at any Olympics was the Australian swimmer,
Fanny Durack Sarah Frances "Fanny" Durack (27 October 1889 – 20 March 1956), also known by her married name Fanny Gately, was an Australian competition swimmer. From 1910 until 1918 she was the world's greatest female swimmer across all distances from f ...
, who won medal at the
1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...
in the freestyle event. Att the
1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...
, an Australian woman won a medal in every women's swimming event held during the games. At the
1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...
, Suzanne Landells won a silver medal in the 400-metre medley,
Karen Phillips Karen Anne Phillips (born 4 May 1966), known after marriage as Karen Anne Higgison, was an Australian butterfly and individual medley swimmer of the 1980s, who won the silver medal in the 200-metre butterfly at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los ...
won a silver medal in the 200 metres butterfly, and Michelle Pearson won a bronze in the 200-metre medley. At the
2012 London Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, despite only winning 10 medals in the pool, the Australian women's team performed at a high level. The 4 × 100 m Women's freestyle relay team was the only race in which Australia won a gold medal, with the team composing of
Cate Campbell Cate Natalie Campbell, (born 20 May 1992) is a Malawian-born Australian competitive swimming (sport), swimmer, and a current multiple world record holder, who won two bronze medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics, a gold medal at the 2012 Summer O ...
,
Alicia Coutts Alicia Jayne Coutts, (born 14 September 1987) is an Australian competitive medley, butterfly and freestyle swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2010 Commonwealth Games (New Delhi). Sh ...
,
Brittany Elmslie Brittany Joyce Elmslie, (born 19 June 1994) is a former Australian competitive swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics in swimming, and won a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay at both Games. Personal ...
and
Melanie Schlanger Melanie Renée Schlanger, Order of Australia, OAM (born 31 August 1986), also known by her married name Melanie Wright, is an Australian freestyle swimming, freestyle swimmer. Melanie first represented Australia at the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimmin ...
. Australian women, also picked up another 6 medals at the Olympic Games, including 4 individual medals.


See also

* List of Australian Olympic medalists in swimming *
Netball in Australia Netball is the most popular women's team participation sport in Australia. In 1985, there were 347,000 players. In 1995, there were over 360,000 Australian netball players. Throughout most of Australia's netball history, the game has largely b ...
*
Women's association football in Australia Women's soccer, also known as women's football, is a popular sport in Australia. The sport has a high level of participation in the country both recreational and professional. Football Australia is the national governing body of the sport in Aus ...
* Women's field hockey in Australia


References


Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Women's Swimming In Australia
Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
Swimming in Australia