Violet Walrond
Encyclopedia
Violet Ethel Mary Walrond (27 February 1905 – 17 December 1996) was a New Zealand
swimmer, who represented New Zealand
at the 1920 Summer Olympics
at Antwerp at the age of 15, making her New Zealand's first female Olympic athlete. In the 100 metre freestyle race she came 5th, and in the 300 metre freestyle race she came 7th (although New Zealand newspapers said she was 6th, and some publications said she did not start due to illness). She used the crawl style. This is the only Olympics to have a 300 metres women's freestyle race; in 1924 it became the 400 metres freestyle like the men's race.
Her father Cecil 'Tui' Walrond (an excellent swimmer, who had received a Royal Humane Society
award for rescuing 11 people from drowning) accompanied her as her chaperone and unofficial team trainer. Violet and her younger sister Edna retired from competitive swimming in 1923. Violet was 18, and Joseph Romanos was told by Violet that they retired on orders from their father, as he felt that we were too much in the public eye. He also forbade them from cutting their long hair short. Violet would have been a likely selection for the 1924 Olympics.
She married Harold Robb in 1933, and died in 1996 aged 91, in Papakura, Auckland
.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
swimmer, who represented New Zealand
New Zealand at the 1920 Summer Olympics
New Zealand competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. It was the first time that the nation had competed independently at the Olympic Games...
at the 1920 Summer Olympics
Swimming at the 1920 Summer Olympics
At the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, ten swimming events were contested. The women's 300 metre freestyle event was new since the previous Games in 1912. The competitions were held from Sunday August 22, 1920 to Sunday August 29, 1920...
at Antwerp at the age of 15, making her New Zealand's first female Olympic athlete. In the 100 metre freestyle race she came 5th, and in the 300 metre freestyle race she came 7th (although New Zealand newspapers said she was 6th, and some publications said she did not start due to illness). She used the crawl style. This is the only Olympics to have a 300 metres women's freestyle race; in 1924 it became the 400 metres freestyle like the men's race.
Her father Cecil 'Tui' Walrond (an excellent swimmer, who had received a Royal Humane Society
Royal Humane Society
The Royal Humane Society is a British charity which promotes lifesaving intervention. It was founded in England in 1774 as the Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned, for the purpose of rendering first aid in cases of near drowning....
award for rescuing 11 people from drowning) accompanied her as her chaperone and unofficial team trainer. Violet and her younger sister Edna retired from competitive swimming in 1923. Violet was 18, and Joseph Romanos was told by Violet that they retired on orders from their father, as he felt that we were too much in the public eye. He also forbade them from cutting their long hair short. Violet would have been a likely selection for the 1924 Olympics.
She married Harold Robb in 1933, and died in 1996 aged 91, in Papakura, Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
.