Clare Dennis
Encyclopedia
Clara "Clare" Dennis (later Golding, 7 March 1916 – 5 June 1971) was an Australia
n breaststroke
swimmer of the 1930s who won the gold medal in the 200 m breaststroke at the 1932 Summer Olympics
in Los Angeles
.
Born in Burwood, New South Wales
(a suburb of Sydney) as one of six children of Alec Dennis, a policeman who acted as a police prosecutor, Clare and her siblings were taught to swim by their father, himself an amateur swimmer, after their family relocated from Burwood to Clovelly Beach
. Dennis' sister Thora developed quickly into a competent competitive swimmer, and joined the Sydney Ladies' Swimming Club and was later selected for the 1928 Summer Olympics
in Amsterdam
, but was prevented from going on the grounds of being too young to travel alone overseas. Dennis pleaded with her father to let her join, which he agreed to on the condition that she first swim the 33 yards (30 m) across Clovelly Bay. She managed this by pushing off the bottom of the ocean, disguising this with extravagant stroking. Her first lesson and race at the club ended in her having to be fished out of the pool after her endurance failed and the bottom of the pool was too deep to push off.
Dennis attended Randwick Primary School, where she acquired a reputation for being interested in sport rather than schoolwork. She spent large amounts of time playing cricket
against the male students. Dennis initially swam as a freestyler, but converted to breaststroke at the age of 13. At her first New South Wales
Championships in 1930, held at the Ramsgate Baths, she was disqualified after drifting out of her unmarked lane. The freestyle race was held four times due to multiple lane crossing. It was later discovered that the taps regulating the water flow had been accidentally left on. This created a current strong enough to push the swimmers towards one another. In the breaststroke event, held later, she set a State record, but was disqualified for a one-handed touch.
In 1931 she won her first state and national title in the 220 yd (201.2 m) breaststroke. She repeated this in 1933, 1934 and 1935, with the championships not being held in 1932, remaining unbeaten until her retirement in 1936. After her 1931 victory, her father died from a leaking heart valve. Dennis considered retiring, but her mother convinced her to continue.
In January 1932, Dennis broke the 110 yd (100.6 m) Australian record and then the 200 m world record, gaining automatic selection for the Olympic team at the age of 15. Due to financial difficulties caused by the Great Depression
, Dennis managed to attend the Olympics only after assistance was rendered by the Police Department for travel and uniform costs. On arrival, Dennis was hit by illness and then contracted a toe infection after gashing it on the starting platform. Her chances took a boost when Lisa Rocke, who had claimed her 200 m breaststroke world record, was not sent to represent Germany.
Dennis won her heat of the 200 m breaststroke, setting an Olympic record. She narrowly escaped disqualification when a protest was lodged against her "inappropriate" costume on the grounds that it exposed too much of her shoulder blade. Dennis changed her swimming style after the heats on the advice of American swimmer Buster Crabbe
, who recommended she swim three strokes underwater after her starting dive before surfacing. Using her new technique, she touched in first place at every turn to claim the gold medal, 0.1s faster than Japan's Hideko Maehata
, improving on her previous Olympic record.
In 1933, Dennis beat her own Australian 220 yd (201.2 m) breaststroke record, and in 1934 she captured gold in the 220 yd (201.2 m) breaststroke at the 1934 British Empire Games
in London. Though she successfully defended her national title in 1935, she was controversially omitted from the team for the 1936 Summer Olympics
in Berlin, and subsequently retired.
, an Australian track and field athlete at the Olympics. He won gold at the 1930 British Empire Games
and was the Australian 440 yd (402.3 m) champion in 1934 and the 440 yd (402.3 m) hurdles champion in 1932 and 1934. They were married in 1941. Dennis became a swimming coach and hairdresser, owning two salons.
She died in 1971 in Manly, New South Wales
at the age of 55 from cancer
, and was posthumously inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame
in 1982.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n breaststroke
Breaststroke
The breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on his or her chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to its stability and the ability to keep the head out of the water a large portion of the time. In most swimming classes, beginners learn...
swimmer of the 1930s who won the gold medal in the 200 m breaststroke at the 1932 Summer Olympics
1932 Summer Olympics
The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad, was a major world wide multi-athletic event which was celebrated in 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. No other cities made a bid to host these Olympics. Held during the worldwide Great Depression, many nations...
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Born in Burwood, New South Wales
Burwood, New South Wales
Burwood is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Burwood is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of Burwood Council....
(a suburb of Sydney) as one of six children of Alec Dennis, a policeman who acted as a police prosecutor, Clare and her siblings were taught to swim by their father, himself an amateur swimmer, after their family relocated from Burwood to Clovelly Beach
Clovelly, New South Wales
Clovelly is a small beach-side suburb in Sydney's eastern suburbs, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Clovelly is located 8 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwick, within the Federal Division of Wentworth.Clovelly...
. Dennis' sister Thora developed quickly into a competent competitive swimmer, and joined the Sydney Ladies' Swimming Club and was later selected for the 1928 Summer Olympics
1928 Summer Olympics
The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam had bid for the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games, but had to give way to war-victim Antwerp, Belgium, and Pierre de...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, but was prevented from going on the grounds of being too young to travel alone overseas. Dennis pleaded with her father to let her join, which he agreed to on the condition that she first swim the 33 yards (30 m) across Clovelly Bay. She managed this by pushing off the bottom of the ocean, disguising this with extravagant stroking. Her first lesson and race at the club ended in her having to be fished out of the pool after her endurance failed and the bottom of the pool was too deep to push off.
Dennis attended Randwick Primary School, where she acquired a reputation for being interested in sport rather than schoolwork. She spent large amounts of time playing cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
against the male students. Dennis initially swam as a freestyler, but converted to breaststroke at the age of 13. At her first New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
Championships in 1930, held at the Ramsgate Baths, she was disqualified after drifting out of her unmarked lane. The freestyle race was held four times due to multiple lane crossing. It was later discovered that the taps regulating the water flow had been accidentally left on. This created a current strong enough to push the swimmers towards one another. In the breaststroke event, held later, she set a State record, but was disqualified for a one-handed touch.
In 1931 she won her first state and national title in the 220 yd (201.2 m) breaststroke. She repeated this in 1933, 1934 and 1935, with the championships not being held in 1932, remaining unbeaten until her retirement in 1936. After her 1931 victory, her father died from a leaking heart valve. Dennis considered retiring, but her mother convinced her to continue.
In January 1932, Dennis broke the 110 yd (100.6 m) Australian record and then the 200 m world record, gaining automatic selection for the Olympic team at the age of 15. Due to financial difficulties caused by the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Dennis managed to attend the Olympics only after assistance was rendered by the Police Department for travel and uniform costs. On arrival, Dennis was hit by illness and then contracted a toe infection after gashing it on the starting platform. Her chances took a boost when Lisa Rocke, who had claimed her 200 m breaststroke world record, was not sent to represent Germany.
Dennis won her heat of the 200 m breaststroke, setting an Olympic record. She narrowly escaped disqualification when a protest was lodged against her "inappropriate" costume on the grounds that it exposed too much of her shoulder blade. Dennis changed her swimming style after the heats on the advice of American swimmer Buster Crabbe
Buster Crabbe
Clarence Linden "Buster" Crabbe was an American athlete and actor, who starred in a number of popular serials in the 1930s and 1940s.-Birth:...
, who recommended she swim three strokes underwater after her starting dive before surfacing. Using her new technique, she touched in first place at every turn to claim the gold medal, 0.1s faster than Japan's Hideko Maehata
Hideko Maehata
was a Japanese breaststroke swimmer. She won gold medal for the Women's 200 m breaststroke in the 1936 Summer Olympics, and silver medal for the Women's 200 m breaststroke in the 1932 Summer Olympics....
, improving on her previous Olympic record.
In 1933, Dennis beat her own Australian 220 yd (201.2 m) breaststroke record, and in 1934 she captured gold in the 220 yd (201.2 m) breaststroke at the 1934 British Empire Games
1934 British Empire Games
The 1934 British Empire Games were the second of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games. They were held at the White City Stadium in London, England from 4–11 August 1934, apart from the cycling at Fallowfield Stadium, Manchester, and the swimming, which took place at the Empire Pool in Wembley...
in London. Though she successfully defended her national title in 1935, she was controversially omitted from the team for the 1936 Summer Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
in Berlin, and subsequently retired.
After swimming
Dennis met her future husband, George GoldingGeorge Golding
George Augustus Golding was an Australian athlete who competed in the 1932 Summer Olympics.He was born in Forbes, New South Wales. He was the husband of Clare Dennis.In 1932 he finished sixth the 400 metres event...
, an Australian track and field athlete at the Olympics. He won gold at the 1930 British Empire Games
1930 British Empire Games
The 1930 British Empire Games were the first of what later become known as the Commonwealth Games, and were held in Hamilton, in the province of Ontario in Canada from August 16–23, 1930....
and was the Australian 440 yd (402.3 m) champion in 1934 and the 440 yd (402.3 m) hurdles champion in 1932 and 1934. They were married in 1941. Dennis became a swimming coach and hairdresser, owning two salons.
She died in 1971 in Manly, New South Wales
Manly, New South Wales
Manly is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Manly is located 17 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of Manly Council, in the Northern Beaches region.-History:Manly was named...
at the age of 55 from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, and was posthumously inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame
International Swimming Hall of Fame
The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of swimming in the United States and around...
in 1982.