Beryl Swain

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Beryl Swain (born January 22, 1936 in Walthamstow , † 2007 in Epping ) was a British motorcycle racer . She was the first woman to take part in the Isle of Man TT in 1962 .

Life

Swain was born Beryl Tolman in Walthamstow. In 1958 she married Eddie Swain, the owner of a motorcycle workshop. She became a member of numerous motorcycle clubs and she started racing . She was the first woman to take part in a race on the Isle of Man's dangerous TT course , one of the most famous public road races in the world. After two laps on the Mountain Circuit in the 1962 race, she finished 22nd on a 50cc Itom . Her average speed was 48.3  mph (77.7  km / h ) after her machine lost top gear on lap two. She announced her intention to return the following year. The organizers have always been concerned that a male racer could be seriously injured or killed on the tough track and they were unwilling to take the risk with a woman. As a sign of the times, the FIM sports association decided to revoke its international license by introducing a minimum weight limit. Since she could not keep this and the organizers insisted on the ban on female participants, she stopped racing. She protested, campaigned against the decision, and received a lot of support. Even so, her license was never restored. She never returned to racing after her license was revoked and worked as a manager in the London area for Sainsbury’s (a large chain of supermarkets in the UK). She later helped the elderly with meals on wheels. The ban was finally lifted a decade later, and women began competing in TT races again.

Web links

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