Sarah Frances "Fanny" Durack (27 October 1889 – 20 March 1956) was an Australian swimmer. From 1910 until 1918 she was the world's greatest female swimmer of all distances from freestyle sprints to the mile marathon.
Durack was born in Sydney, Australia in 1889.
Durack learned to swim in Sydney's Coogee Baths using breaststroke, the only style for which there was a championship for women at that time. In 1906 she won her first title, and over the...
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Sarah Frances "Fanny" Durack (27 October 1889 – 20 March 1956) was an Australian swimmer. From 1910 until 1918 she was the world's greatest female swimmer of all distances from freestyle sprints to the mile marathon.
Durack was born in Sydney, Australia in 1889.
Durack learned to swim in Sydney's Coogee Baths using breaststroke, the only style for which there was a championship for women at that time. In 1906 she won her first title, and over the next few years, dominated the Australian swimming scene. In the 1910-11 swimming season, Mina Wylie beat Durack in the 100 yards breaststroke and the 100 and 220 yards freestyle at the Australian Swimming Championships at Rose Bay. The two went on to become close friends.
In the late 1910s, she held every women's swimming world record from 100 m to a mile.
Durack and Wylie were initially refused permission to compete in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. The New South Wales Ladies Swimming Association later allowed them to go provided they bore...
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