Mina Wylie
Encyclopedia
Wilhelmina "Mina" Wylie (1891 – 6 July 1984) was one of Australia
's first two female Olympic swimming
representatives, along with friend Fanny Durack
.
, Sydney
, where her father Henry Wylie built Wylie's Baths
in 1907. The Baths are the oldest surviving communal sea baths in Australia.
in Stockholm
, Sweden
where women's swimming events were being held for the first time. Durack won a gold medal and Wylie a silver medal. Twenty-seven women contested the 100 metre event including six from Great Britain and four from Germany. Swimsuits generally reached down to the mid-thigh although some were sleeveless. The pool was built in an inlet of Stockholm Harbour and competitors swam without lane ropes. Durack's time in the 100m final was 1:22.2 and Wylie's was 1:25.4.
She competed in New South Wales and Australian championships from 1906 to 1934, winning 115 titles including every Australian and New South Wales championship event in 1911, 1922 and 1924 in freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke.
Mina Wylie was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame
in 1975.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
's first two female Olympic swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
representatives, along with friend Fanny Durack
Fanny Durack
Sarah Frances "Fanny" Durack was an Australian swimmer. From 1910 until 1918 she was the world's greatest female swimmer of all distances from freestyle sprints to the mile marathon.-Life and career:...
.
Early life
She grew up in South CoogeeCoogee, New South Wales
Coogee is a beachside suburb of local government area City of Randwick. It is located 8 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is also a part of the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney....
, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, where her father Henry Wylie built Wylie's Baths
Wylie's Baths
Wylie's Baths is a tidal pool near Coogee Beach, in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, noted for holding the first Australian Swimming Championships, and for being one of the first swimming baths for mixed gender swimming in Australia. Wylie's Baths was built in 1907 by...
in 1907. The Baths are the oldest surviving communal sea baths in Australia.
Career
After competing against each other in the Australian and New South Wales Swimming Championships in the 1910/11 swimming season, Wylie and Durack persuaded officials to let them attend the 1912 Summer Olympics1912 Summer Olympics
The 1912 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 5 May and 27 July 1912. Twenty-eight nations and 2,407 competitors, including 48 women, competed in 102 events in 14 sports...
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
where women's swimming events were being held for the first time. Durack won a gold medal and Wylie a silver medal. Twenty-seven women contested the 100 metre event including six from Great Britain and four from Germany. Swimsuits generally reached down to the mid-thigh although some were sleeveless. The pool was built in an inlet of Stockholm Harbour and competitors swam without lane ropes. Durack's time in the 100m final was 1:22.2 and Wylie's was 1:25.4.
She competed in New South Wales and Australian championships from 1906 to 1934, winning 115 titles including every Australian and New South Wales championship event in 1911, 1922 and 1924 in freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke.
Mina Wylie was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame
International Swimming Hall of Fame
The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of swimming in the United States and around...
in 1975.
External links
- International Swimming Hall of Fame article on Mina Wylie
- ABC article on the 1912 Stockholm Games
- Too much Boldness and Rudeness - Australia's first Olympic Ladies Swimming Team National Centre for History Education (Peter Cochrane)
- Olympic results