Clarice Mary Araluen Kennedy (4 September 1910 - 1998) was an Australia

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 athlete who competed in a range of athletics events.

A student at Fort Street High School

Fort Street High School

Fort Street High School is a co-educational, academically selective, public high school currently located at Petersham, an inner western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....

 in Sydney, Kennedy was a versatile athlete in the late 1920s and 1930s, successful in swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

, diving

Diving

Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...

, vigoro

Vigoro

Vigoro is a sport like both cricket and baseball and has been mainly played by women. It is most popular in Australia.-History:The game was invented by Englishman John George Grant...

, hockey

Field hockey

Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

, tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

 and basketball

Netball

Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...

.

She set a range of Australian records in sprints, hurdles, 400 metres

400 metres

The 400 metres, or 400 metre dash, is a common sprinting event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 . On a standard outdoor running track, it is exactly one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and...

, 800 metres

800 metres

The 800 meter race is a common track running event. It is the shortest common middle distance track event. The 800 meter is run over two laps of the track and has always been an Olympic event. During indoor track season the event is usually run on a 200 meter track, therefore requiring four laps...

, Shot Put

Shot put

The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....

 and Javelin

Javelin throw

The javelin throw is a track and field athletics throwing event where the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear approximately 2.5 metres in length. Javelin is an event of both the men's decathlon and the women's heptathlon...

 and also won the inaugural NSW

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...

 State Two-Mile Cross country championship. Her time of 12.2 for 80 metres hurdles in 1930 broke the world record but her performance was not ratified which greatly disappointed Kennedy.In the same year, Kennedy saved the life of a drowning boy.

In 1936 she won four events at the National Games (and Olympic trials) in Adelaide but she was not selected for the 1936 Berlin Games. Her omission caused an outrage with questions even asked in parliament.

In her career she won seven Australian championship

Australian Championships in Athletics

The Australian Athletics Championships or Australian Open Track and Field Championships are held annually to determine Australia's champion athletes in a range of athletics events. The championships are the primary qualification trial for athletes wishing to compete at the Olympic Games,...

 at hurdles and javelin

Javelin throw

The javelin throw is a track and field athletics throwing event where the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear approximately 2.5 metres in length. Javelin is an event of both the men's decathlon and the women's heptathlon...

 but only represented Australia at one international event, the 1938 British Empire Games

1938 British Empire Games

The 1938 British Empire Games was the third British Empire Games, the Commonwealth Games being the modern-day equivalent. Held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia from February 5–12, 1938, they were timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary...

 in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

.

At the age of 59, Kennedy enrolled at University and went on to complete a Masters of Science degree with honours before completing a PhD. She had completed the first year of her Bachelor of Divinity when she died of cancer in 1998.

See also

• Australian athletics champions (Women)