From the Archives
As the year continues at a fast pace, Term 2 has drawn to a close and the 2024 Paris Olympics looms large on the horizon. To mark this major sporting event on the calendar, this article celebrates some things ‘Olympic’ (and sporting) connected to Pymble Ladies’ College. Our Olympic connections and triumphs go back to the beginnings of the College and extend right through to the present day.
The first Australian women to participate in the Olympics included Miss Mina Wylie, who competed in the 1912 Olympics held in Stockholm. There, she won a silver medal in swimming. She continued to swim competitively, and between 1912 and 1924, held every record for every swimming stroke. She was also the first Australian woman to win a diploma of the Royal Life Saving Society.
After retiring from competitive swimming, Mina Wylie joined the staff at Pymble Ladies’ College as a teacher of swimming in 1928. She went on as ‘Miss Wylie’ to teach hundreds of Pymble girls swimming and lifesaving. She finally stopped active teaching in 1970, after 42 years of service working at Pymble. She was elevated to the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Florida in 1975.
Mina Wylie continued her interest in children’s swimming and attended all of Pymble’s swimming carnivals, proudly wearing her Australian team blazer and carrying her stopwatch until her death in 1984. So many Pymble girls were able to benefit from her skill, passion and dedication over so many decades at our College.
From there, the Olympic roll call continues for staff, students and others associated with Pymble Ladies’ College. In 1980 and 1984, former staff member Graeme Brewer competed in swimming at the Moscow and LA Games. Alumni Mackenzie Little (2014) is a champion javelin thrower – a sport she discovered after one of her hurdles competitions was cancelled! Former student Tess Gerrand is an Australian former national representative rower. She is a national champion, an Olympian who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics, was a competitor at the 2013 World Rowing Championships and a medallist at World Rowing Cups in 2013. Brittany O’Brien competed in Rio in 2016 as a diver – so many sports, so many Pymble connections.
Fast forward to 2024 and the Olympic flavour continues at Pymble. The College was recently announced as an Olympic Pathway School – the first independent girls’ school in Australian to receive such an accolade. This reinforces our position as a leader for young women in sport, with a large array of future Olympic athletes destined to graduate from our hallowed halls over the coming years and well into the future.
Whether it be at an elite level or more standard sporting pursuits, girls at Pymble Ladies’ College today can participate in a plethora of sports, such as artistic gymnastics, athletics and cross country, AFL, badminton, basketball, cricket, diving, equestrian, fencing, soccer, futsal, golf, hockey, indoor rock climbing, mountain biking, netball, orienteering, rhythmic gymnastics, rowing, rugby sevens, sailing, snow sports, softball, surfing, swimming, taekwondo, tennis, touch footy, triathlon, volleyball and water polo.
This broad range of options is very different to the more basic and limited possibilities for sports at Pymble in the 1900s where girls did high jump and other activities in their ‘formal’ uniform complete with stockings and collared shirts no less! Today’s sporting attire that includes fabrics such as Lycra are much more suited for movement than those of the past.
I imagine many of you have fond memories of engaging in sports during your time at Pymble and possibly enjoyed a few laughs along the way! Feel free to drop me a line at kmurray@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au and share your stories of life at Pymble, whether it be sport related or your life and times on campus; your experiences are all part of the story of Pymble Ladies’ College and I would love to hear them.
Kate Murray
College Archivist
