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Quiz about Australians Dont Crawl Swimming Downunder

Australians Don't Crawl - Swimming Downunder Quiz

It's the climate. Aussies swim most of the year and are one of the world's most successful swimming nations. Let's take a look at some of the early swimming legends.

A multiple-choice quiz by Nannanut. Estimated time: 7 mins.

Author
Nannanut

Time
7 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
203,528

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
4 / 10

Plays
435

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Freddie Lane was Australia's first Olympic swimming medalist. He competed in the Paris Olympics of 1900, and won the 200 metre race in an open pool in the Seine River. What did he receive for placing first in this event? Hint

A laurel wreath

A certificate

A bronze statue of a horse

A ribbon

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Question 2 of 10

2. Fanny Durack won gold in Stockholm in 1912 in the 100 metres freestyle event, making her Australia's first female Olympic champion. What made her win even more remarkable? Hint

Her costume was made of wool and even had a skirt

All of these

She swam at a time when men were forbidden as spectators

She competed in a pool without lane ropes or starting blocks

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Question 3 of 10

3. Andrew Boy Charlton is one of Australia's most enduring sporting heroes and competed in three Olympic Games. What happened on the way to his first games in Paris in 1924, that was feared could cost him the race? Hint

The ship's pool could not be accessed for training

Charlton had influenza in the weeks leading up to the competition

His coach threw himself off the ship

There was a death in the family while he was sailing to Paris

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Question 4 of 10

4. Frank Beaurepaire competed in three Olympic Games, London (1908), Antwerp (1920), and Paris (1924). It should have been four but he was denied the chance to swim in Stockholm. What was the reason for this? Hint

He was disqualified in the selection trials

It was thought his job as a physical education teacher compromised his amateur status

His wife was ill and he had to stay in Australia

He injured his shoulder and doctors ruled him out of the competition

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Question 5 of 10

5. Australia can actually lay claim to a "First Family" of swimming. Members of the clan were involved in swimming pursuits which included English Channel attempts, underwater endurance displays, record-breaking swims and the evolution of the Australian Crawl as a swimming stroke. What was the name of this swimming dynasty? Hint

The Trudgens

The Wickhams

The Kings

The Cavills

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Question 6 of 10

6. Annette Kellerman contracted polio as a child and was given swimming lessons in an effort to strengthen her legs. After collecting national titles and a world record for the mile, she turned her attention to professional swimming. She attempted several Channel swims, swam the Thames River in 1904, and even performed for the Prince of Wales. She reached Hollywood in 1915 to star in two movies. In her second movie, what was unusual about the dive she was asked to perform? Hint

It was a dive into a pool of alligators

She had never dived before - only swum

It was a record breaking dive

She had to dive blindfolded

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Question 7 of 10

7. Cecil Healy was one of Australia's most underrated swimmers. It is a little known fact that this swimmer's sportsmanship and sense of fair play, cost him a gold medal in the London games of 1908. What happened? Hint

The American team was disqualified and he supported their bid for reinstatement

He admitted to using an illegal kick and lost his medal

He slowed down to allow a sick team mate to win

He felt he wasn't worthy of the gold medal and withdrew from the presentation ceremony

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Question 8 of 10

8. In the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Australian swimmer Leslie Boardman almost didn't make the 4 x 200m freestyle relay team. What was unusual about this team? Hint

All team members swam while they were ill with a stomach virus

One of the Australians had only swum breastroke before the race

The team actually represented Australasia not Australia

None of the team members had ever swum in a relay before

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Question 9 of 10

9. Australia, as a member of the British Commonwealth, competed in the Commonwealth Games every four years. Originally called the Empire Games, the first competition was held in Hamiton in Canada in 1930. What was unusual about Australia's swimming team? Hint

There were only 4 swimmers on the team

The country did not send a swimming team to these games

It was all male

The team won every event they competed in

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Question 10 of 10

10. At the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932, Claire Dennis won the 200m breastroke event after some advice from which future movie star? Hint

Buster Crabbe

Esther Williams

Johnny Weissmuller

Errol Flynn

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: A bronze statue of a horse

Medals were not awarded in either the first or second Olympic Games of the modern era. Freddie received a bronze horse weighing over fifty pounds. He beat Zoltan Halmay from Hungary in the event.
In the 1920s the International Olympic Committee issued the winners from 1896 and 1900 with commemorative medals.

2. Fanny Durack won gold in Stockholm in 1912 in the 100 metres freestyle event, making her Australia's first female Olympic champion. What made her win even more remarkable?

Answer: All of these

Fanny overcame all the constraints placed on the women swimmers of her time. It was estimated that her swimsuit was actually the heaviest of all the competitors', being made of wool. In Australia at that time, when women trained or competed, men spectators were forbidden to enter the pool area.

This of course severely limited the time any female swimmer could even access a pool. The pool in Stockholm was built in a harbour inlet and there were no defined lanes. Competitors started their race from a wooden deck.

Despite all this, Fanny broke the world record twice on the way to her historic win.

Answer: His coach threw himself off the ship

Charlton's coach Tom Adrian was suffering from depression and jumped overboard. He was safely retrieved but it was feared this episode might hamper Charlton's performance. However, Charlton beat Swedish swimmer Arne Borg in the 1500m freestyle and America's famous Johnny Weissmuller in the 400m event in the same stroke.

Answer: It was thought his job as a physical education teacher compromised his amateur status

Beaurepaire was suspended by the International Swimming Federation, but was later reinstated. He competed again in Antwerp and Paris. He brought home three silver and three bronze medals for his Olympic efforts, and went on to become the Mayor of Melbourne, after making a considerable fortune selling car tyres.

Answer: The Cavills

Frederick Cavill began the family's long involvement with swimming in 1876 when he attempted to swim the English Channel twice. The second time he was within 50 yards of the English coast when he was pulled from the water. His son Charles had quite a successful career staging swimming exhibitions in America. In May 1897, he began an underwater endurance swim in California but never resurfaced.
Ernest, Percy, Syd, and Dick all held national swimming titles with Dick hailing as one of the best Australian swimmers of his time.
Dick and his brother Arthur evolved the Australian Crawl swimming stroke, after seeing Solomon Islander Alick Wickham swimming in Sydney, using this style. This stroke was the forerunner of today's freestyle. The Cavill family had its share of triumphs and tragedies but is certainly among the greatest families of Australian sport.

Answer: It was a dive into a pool of alligators

Annette Kellerman was the darling of Australian swimming, and gained fame early with her tour of Australian states as the "Aqua Queen". After a successful run in England, she toured America in 1908 before marrying her press agent James Sullivan in 1910.

In her first movie, "Neptune's Daughter", she made a world record-breaking dive of 28 metres. The alligators were to be the big challenge in her second movie, "Daughter of the Gods". She survived and toured for many years before retiring to Australia's Gold Coast in 1961.

She died in 1975.

Answer: The American team was disqualified and he supported their bid for reinstatement

Three American competitors missed the semi-finals of the 100m freestyle due to a mix up over times, and were automatically disqualified. Healy supported their protest, and two of them were ultimately allowed to compete in the final. Duke Kahanamoku, the man who would introduce surfing to the Australian public, defeated the sporting Healy who placed second.

8. In the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Australian swimmer Leslie Boardman almost didn't make the 4 x 200m freestyle relay team. What was unusual about this team?

Answer: The team actually represented Australasia not Australia

The composition of the team underwent several changes, with the final selection consisting of three Australian swimmers and one New Zealander. The team competed as Australasia. Boardman did not even have claim to a place in any championship races in 1912, and was most probably included because he was a club mate of the other two Australians, Cecil Healy and Harold Hardwick.

The New Zealander was Malcolm Champion. The team won in world record time, beating the U.S.A. and British teams. It would be another 88 years before Aussies would again claim gold in this event. Ian Thorpe, Michael Klim, Bill Kirby, and Todd Pearson blitzed the field in Sydney 2000, again in world record time.

Answer: It was all male

In fact there were only two swimmers on the swimming team. Noel Ryan won gold in two events but Bill Cameron failed to place in either of his two races. The entire games were planned as an all male event except for swimming which permitted female competitors. Even so, Australia chose to send only two male swimmers.

10. At the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932, Claire Dennis won the 200m breastroke event after some advice from which future movie star?

Answer: Buster Crabbe

Crabbe, who would later star as Tarzan and Jungle Jim, was an Olympic champion at the 1932 games, and gave Claire valuable advice. He said she should swim three strokes underwater after her dive, and make sure she was ahead at every turn. Such sage advice resulted in a gold medal for Dennis, despite the fact that there was a protest over the silk fabric used in her swimsuit.

Source: Author Nannanut

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