Sarah Frances "Fanny" Durack (27 October 1889 – 20 March 1956), also known by her married name Fanny Gately, was an Australian competition

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. From 1910 until 1918 she was the world's greatest female swimmer across all distances from freestyle sprints to the mile marathon.

Life and career

Fanny Durack 03 State Library of New South Wales a468005u

Durack learned to swim in Sydney's Coogee Baths using

breaststroke Breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and that it can be s ...

, the only style for which there was a championship for women at that time. In 1906 she won her first title, and over the next few years, dominated the Australian swimming scene. In the 1910-11 swimming season,

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 ...

beat Durack in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 100- and 220-yard freestyle at the

Australian Swimming Championships The Australian Swimming Championships is the national Swimming championships for Australia. They are organised by Swimming Australia and separate championships are held annually in both long course (50m) and short course (25m) pools. The two mee ...

at Rose Bay. The two went on to become close friends. From late 1912 to 1920, Durack held the official women's Freestyle swimming world record for 100 metres. She also held the 200M freestyle record from 1915 to 1921. Other world records held included 220 yards freestyle (1915 to 1921), 500M freestyle (1916 to 1917) and 1 mile freestyle (1914 to 1926). She also held many Australian and State records. The New South Wales Ladies Swimming Association initially was opposed to women participating in the Olympic Games. 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 Stockholm was to be the first Olympics to have women's swimming. Durack and Wylie were initially refused permission by NSWLSA to compete, but later they were allowed to go provided they bore their own expenses. They organised local fundraising to raise the funds for themselves as well as for the obligatory chaperones.Lenskyj, Helen (2013)
Gender Politics and the Olympic Industry
'. Durack set a new world record in the heats of the 100-metre freestyle. She won the final, becoming the first Australian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in a swimming event. Until the 1932 Olympics (when

Clare Dennis Clara "Clare" Dennis (7 March 1916 – 5 June 1971), later known by her married name Clare Golding, was an Australian breaststroke swimmer of the 1930s who won the gold medal in the 200-metre breaststroke at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los ...

won the 200-metre breaststroke in Los Angeles) she was the only such woman; and until the 1956 Olympics she and Dennis were the only two such women. A week before the Australian team left for the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, in May 1920, Durack suffered appendicitis and had an emergency appendectomy. This was followed by typhoid fever and pneumonia and she was unable to participate in the Olympic team. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the statue of Mary and the infant Jesus on top of the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Brebières in

Albert, Somme Albert () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It is located about halfway between Amiens and Bapaume. History Albert was founded as a Roman outpost, in about 54 BC. After being known by various fo ...

, France, was hit by a shell on 15 January 1915, and slumped to a near-horizontal position. Australian troops nicknamed the leaning statue "Fanny", in honour of Fanny Durack as it resembled the swimmer diving off the blocks.

Death and legacy

Durack died in Sydney in 1956. She was interred in

Waverley Cemetery The Waverley Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1877 and built by R. Watkins (cemetery lodge, 1878) and P. Beddie (cemetery office, 1915 ...

, together with her late husband Bernard Martin Gately. Fanny Durack Aquatic Centre in Petersham, Sydney, is named in her honour. She was posthumously inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

as an "Honour Swimmer" in 1967. In addition to this, she was inducted onto the

Victorian Honour Roll of Women The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The Honour Roll was established as part of the cele ...

in 2001. Sarah Durack Ave at

Sydney Olympic Park Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta Council. It is commonly known as Olympic Park but officially na ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia is named in honour of her. In 2022, she was an inaugural inductee of the Swimming Australia Hall of Fame.

Gallery

File:Fanny Durack, Mina Wylie 1912.jpg, Fanny Durack (left) and Mina Wylie at the 1912 Olympics File:Fanny Durack 03 State Library of New South Wales a468006u.jpg, Fanny Durack 03

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establish ...

a468006u File:Fanny Durack 02 State Library of New South Wales a5614001u.jpg, Fanny Durack 02

a5614001u File:Fanny Durack State Library of New South Wales Hood 30001u.tif, Fanny Durack

Hood 30001u File:Fanny Durack 05 State Library of New South Wales a466001u.jpg, Fanny Durack 05

a466001u

Records

Olympic Records

*1912 gold (100m freestyle)

World records

*100-yard freestyle (1912 to 1921) *100-metre freestyle (1912 to 1920) *220-yard freestyle (1915 to 1921) *500-metre freestyle (1916 to 1917) *mile (1914 to 1926)

References

Bibliography

* * David Wallechinsky, The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics, Little, Brown and Company (1996) {{DEFAULTSORT:Durack, Fanny 1889 births 1956 deaths Olympic swimmers of Australasia Sportswomen from New South Wales Swimmers at the 1912 Summer Olympics Divers at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Australasia Burials at Waverley Cemetery World record setters in swimming Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics Australian female freestyle swimmers Australian female breaststroke swimmers Olympic divers of Australasia Australian female divers Swimmers from Sydney Olympic gold medalists in swimming 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees