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I’ve just survived this annual rite so a tiny part of me thinks Annette Kellerman has a lot to answer for! I know however that on the first sunny beach day I’ll be very grateful to this courageous persistent woman for freeing me from Australian was Born August 7, 1887.

“I can’t swim wearing more stuff than you hang on a clothesline.”

The Swimmer from Down Under

Annette Kellerman is born July 6, 1887 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Her initial fame is athletic.

Beset with infantile paralysis, Kellerman begins swimming as a therapy; she wins her first title, Swim Champion of New South Wales, in 1902 at the age of 15.

Long distance swimming becomes a specialty and she shortly thereafter sets the women’s world record for the mile. She begins performing at the Melbourne Exhibition Aquarium, diving into a 60 foot glass tank shared with fish.In 1905 Kellerman takes her emerging act to London, attracting huge crowds swimming in the Thames. She attempts to swim the English Channel three times (and fails) but beats male swimmers in races in Paris and in the Danube.