Olympics: Tarpaulin training,
swimming in canals, NZ's Walrond blazed trail
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[August 13, 2020]
By Greg Stutchbury
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Violet Walrond
overcame massive hurdles to become New Zealand's first female
Olympian at the 1920 Olympics, but never really understood the
significance of what she had done until late in her life, her nephew
said.
The 15-year-old schoolgirl swimmer was the youngest of the 65 female
athletes at the Antwerp Games, the first time New Zealand had its
own team at the Olympics after being part of an Australasia team in
1908 and 1912.
The New Zealand team, made up of Walrond and three men, took nine
weeks to get to Belgium, travelling by boat with stops in Australia
and South Africa.
The stopovers were the only chance Violet had to train in a pool,
although the ship's captain tried to help her out with a makeshift
facility.
"The captain did try to make a pool out of tarpaulins and put water
into it, but there was no way they could get it deep enough for her
to swim in it," her nephew John Walrond told Reuters in a telephone
interview.
"And the rocking of the boat just made the water spill out over the
sides anyway."
They arrived just days before the Games began and Violet had few
opportunities for training before she had to compete in the Olympic
'pool' -- a fenced off section of canal that had been part of
Belgium's defences in World War One.
The pool had no lane markings and the murky, chilly waters did not
make for a perfect swimming environment but she made the final of
the 100 metres freestyle, finishing fifth behind American Ethelda
Bleibtrey.
She also reached the final of the other women's individual event,
the 300m freestyle, but obviously could not compete in the 4x100
relay.
'JUST A BIG RACE'
Walrond said that while the teenage Violet did not really have any
idea of what the Olympics were about -- "she thought it was just a
big race" -- she was disappointed that her sister Edna had not made
it to Antwerp as well.
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Swimmer Violet Walrond poses for a picture during the 1920 Antwerp
Olympics swimming event in Antwerp, Belgium, 1920. The New Zealand
Olympic Committee/Handout via REUTERS
"Edna was a champion diver (but) she couldn't go to the Olympics
because there wasn't a diving board high enough in Auckland for her
to practice on and make her competitive," Walrond said.
"Violet said when she watched them diving (in Antwerp), she felt
that Edna was much better and would have won the gold for sure."
Walrond continued to swim competitively after Antwerp and was keen
to go to Paris in 1924, but her father Cecil, who had been her
chaperone and New Zealand's unofficial coach in 1920, decided that
both she and Edna should stop competing.
Violet said later in life that her father felt they were getting too
much publicity.
"Back in those days, you did what your father told you to do," said
Walrond, whose father was Violet's brother.
Violet went on to raise a family in Auckland and only became aware
of her impact as New Zealand's first female Olympian shortly before
she died at the age of 91, Walrond said.
"She (was) surprised by all the attention," he said. "She got rather
overwhelmed a little bit."
(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury; Editing by Nick Mulvenney and Peter
Rutherford)
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