Violet Walrond

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.[2] She was New Zealand's first female Olympic athlete,[3] and at 15 years 178 days, the youngest swimming competitor at the 1920 Olympics.[4] Walrond competed in two events at the Olympics.[5] In the 100 metre freestyle race, she came 5th in the final (untimed) after placing 3rd in her heat with a time of 1:21.4.[5] In the 300 metre freestyle race, she came in 7th (although New Zealand newspapers said she was 6th, and some publications said she did not start due to illness) in the final (untimed) after finishing second in her heat in 5:04.6.[5] This is the only Olympics to have a 300 metres women's freestyle race as it was replaced in 1924 by the 400 metres freestyle. She used the crawl style.

Violet Robb
Violet Walrond in 1920
Personal information
Birth nameViolet Ethel Mary Walrond
Born(1905-02-27)27 February 1905
Auckland, New Zealand
Died17 December 1996(1996-12-17) (aged 91)
Papakura, New Zealand
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Spouse(s)
Harold Robb
​
(m. 1933)​
RelativesEmma Maria Walrond (grandmother)
Sport
SportSwimming
Achievements and titles
National finals100 yds freestyle champion (1920, 1923)[1]

Walrond's father, Cecil 'Tui' Walrond, was a noted swimmer who received a Royal Humane Society award for rescuing 11 people from drowning. He accompanied her to the Olympics as chaperone and unofficial team trainer. Violet and her younger sister Edna retired from competitive swimming in 1923 when Violet was 18. She later stated that they retired on orders from their father, as he felt that we were too much in the public eye.[6] He also forbade them from cutting their long hair short.

She married Harold Robb in 1933, and died in 1996 aged 91, in Papakura, Auckland.

References
  1. McLintock, A.H., ed. (1966). "Swimming—national championships". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  2. New Zealand Olympic Committee: Violet Walrond Profile. Olympic.org.nz. Retrieved on 2015-07-29.
  3. "First female competitors at the Olympics by country". Olympedia. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  4. Swimming at the 1920 Antwerpen Summer Games. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2015-07-29.
  5. Violet Walrond. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2015-07-29.
    • Our Olympic Century by Joseph Romanos pages 26–27 (2008, Trio Books, Wellington) ISBN 978-0-9582839-3-9

Further reading
  • McMillan, Neville (1993). New Zealand Sporting Legends: 27 Pre-War Sporting Heroes. Auckland: Moa Beckett. pp. 139–146. ISBN 1-869580-14-1.
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