The Greats of Australian Swimming History

As a huge part of my teenage years centred around competitive swimming as is depicted in Children of Change: A Memoir, I thought that it may be of interest to feature some of our previous champions of the pool.

Sarah “Fanny” Durack won the 100m freestyle at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, the first to allow women swimmers to compete. She was an 11 time world record holder.

Coached by Bill Sweetenham AM. and Churchill Fellow, Stephen Holland broke the 1500m freestyle record in Montreal in 1976 although finishing in 3rd place. He also took 10.02 seconds off the 1500m world record at the 1976 Australian titles. Previously coached by Laurie Lawrence, he took gold at the Commonwealth Games in 1974 and set 11 world records between 1973 -76.

Bill went on to achieve fame and accolades globally both as a swim coach and for his visionary strategic training techniques, culminating in his induction into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2018.

56 years after swimming my last race, I got back in the pool. March 2022 at Mildura Victoria #ChildrenofChange #CaroleKellyAuthor #memoir #author #books #reading #travel #swimming #MtMorgan #Ballroom #selfhelp #greataustralianswimmers #swimminghistory #FannyDurack #StephenHolland #BillSweetenham