Speaker 1: We have a tradition in this fine country. If an
Speaker 1: Australian woman swims at the Olympics, she becomes ours our Shane,
Speaker 1: our Libby, our arian. But where did it all begin?
Speaker 1: To answer that question, you'll need to meet Mina Wiley
Speaker 1: and Sarah Fanny Jurak, the Australian women who dived into
Speaker 1: the history books more than one hundred and ten years ago. Hey,
Speaker 1: welcome to the pool room, where we celebrate the winners,
Speaker 1: losers and the weird stuff between. I'm Tony Armstrong. You
Speaker 1: might be surprised to know women have actually been competing
Speaker 1: in the Olympics almost from the start. In Paris in
Speaker 1: nineteen hundred they sailed, golfed and shot arrows at targets,
Speaker 1: although Australian women didn't feature because we didn't send any.
Speaker 1: But in Stockholm nineteen twelve, the game's changed. Women's swimming
Speaker 1: was now on the program and two whole races were
Speaker 1: timetabled and in what would become a classic Ausi tradition,
Speaker 1: we desperately wanted to win, but as it turned out,
Speaker 1: getting there at all was going to be a fight.
Speaker 1: Fanny Durak and Mina Wiley had grown up together They
Speaker 1: lived by the sea in Cujie in Sydney's East. Mina's
Speaker 1: dad was a champion swimmer himself, and he helpfully built
Speaker 1: her a pool where the girls could train. Wiley's baths.
Speaker 1: They took their sport very seriously. By nineteen twelve, Fanny
Speaker 1: was breaking world records and Mina wasn't far behind. They
Speaker 1: belonged at the Olympics. Both were members of the new
Speaker 1: South Wales Amateur Swimming Association, a good start, except the
Speaker 1: association didn't believe women should compete in the presence of men. Actually,
Speaker 1: women were still banned from men's only public pools at
Speaker 1: the time. Even their dads and brothers weren't allowed to
Speaker 1: watch them compete, so getting to the world stage must
Speaker 1: have felt like a big mountain to climb. A public
Speaker 1: outcry ensued. Eventually, the Amateur Swimming Union bowed to the
Speaker 1: pressure and the rules were reversed. The girls were told
Speaker 1: they could join the Australian team as long as someone
Speaker 1: else paid their way. Like many aspiring Olympians, the swimmers
Speaker 1: found themselves fundraising their way to the Games. Their many
Speaker 1: fans let an outpouring of support, allowing Fanny and Mina
Speaker 1: set sail for Sweden. They called it the Sunshine Olympics.
Speaker 1: Every day of Stockholm nineteen twelve delivered ideal conditions for
Speaker 1: a speedy dart across the pool. The women's one hundred
Speaker 1: meter freestyle event ran from Monday to Friday, with twenty
Speaker 1: seven swimmers from eight nations competing. Fanny and Mina repped Australasia,
Speaker 1: a combined Australia and New Zealand team. This was before
Speaker 1: we could field a whole squad. The weather was good,
Speaker 1: the cozies were modest, and the Aussie women well, they
Speaker 1: were fast. Mina blitzed her heat, finishing more than a
Speaker 1: second faster than her British runner up. Then Fanny took
Speaker 1: to the blocks as the favorite, and with good reason.
Speaker 1: When she hit the wall, she'd wiped half a second
Speaker 1: off the women's world record. Our girls went into the
Speaker 1: final with all of Australia behind them. I mean there
Speaker 1: was no broadcast then, so we'd have to find out
Speaker 1: about it in the papers later, but we probably felt
Speaker 1: it half a world away. Our golden girls, ready to win.
Speaker 1: The race began. Mina was fast. Those years in her
Speaker 1: dad's pool had paid off, as she tore down her lane,
Speaker 1: but Fanny was faster. The official timer stopped at one
Speaker 1: minute and twenty two point two seconds, more than three
Speaker 1: seconds faster than Mina, who took silver. Great Britains Jenny
Speaker 1: Fletcher was a couple more seconds behind in third. Our
Speaker 1: Fanni our Mina the first of many Australian women to
Speaker 1: win Olympic swimming medals. Fanny Durak and Mina Wiley returned
Speaker 1: to Australia as champions, and they carried on that way.
Speaker 1: Between nineteen twelve and nineteen eighteen. Fanny broke twelve world records,
Speaker 1: including taking three and a half seconds off our own
Speaker 1: personal best that she set for the one hundred meters
Speaker 1: in Stockholm. Wiley went on to compete in local and
Speaker 1: national championships, winning one hundred and fifteen titles, including every freestyle,
Speaker 1: backstroke and breaststroke event. In nineteen eleven, nineteen twenty two
Speaker 1: and nineteen twenty four, both were inducted into the International
Speaker 1: Swimming Hall of Fame. Fanny has an avenue named after
Speaker 1: her at Sydney's Olympic Park, and on what would have
Speaker 1: been her one hundred and thirtieth birthday, Mina was honored
Speaker 1: on the front page of google Today's Golden Girls. Our
Speaker 1: girls are following in some mighty footsteps, well strokes more accurately.
Speaker 1: Fanny and Mina showed the nation what was possible in
Speaker 1: the pool and while these baths they remain the oldest
Speaker 1: communal sea baths in the country and a place where
Speaker 1: sporting dreams are born. You've been listening to an iHeart
Speaker 1: production the pool room with me, Tony Armstrong. Catch you
Speaker 1: next time.