Bonnie Mealing

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Bonnie Mealing swim
The Australian Olympic Team at the Olympic Stadium, Los Angeles, 1932 - photographer unknown.jpg

Bonnie Mealing (standing, 3rd from right) with the Australian team in front of the Olympic Stadium in Los Angeles (1932)

Personal information
Surname: Philomena Alecia Mealing
Nickname (s): Bonnie
Nation: AustraliaAustralia Australia
Swimming style (s) : Freestyle / back
Birthday: August 28, 1912
Place of birth: Woolloomooloo
Date of death: January 1, 2002
Place of death: Sydney
Medal table
Medals

Philomena Alecia "Bonnie" Mealing , m. Johnston , (born August 28, 1912 in Woolloomooloo , † January 1, 2002 in Sydney ) was an Australian swimmer . At the Olympic Games in 1932 , she won a silver medal over 100 meters back .

Bonnie Mealing grew up in her birthplace Woolloomooloo and later in Coogee as one of seven children in the family and learned to swim with her siblings. Her sister Mattie won first titles but was then beaten by her sister. At the age of 15 and after only a year of serious training, Bonnie Mealing was nominated for the Australian team for the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam . The three-month journey without training opportunities was exhausting; she got sick and gained weight. She started over 100 meters freestyle and 200 meters back , but was eliminated in both disciplines in the first round, which is why she was heavily criticized by Australian journalists.

As a result, Mealing concentrated on backstroke and on February 27, 1930 in Sydney set a new world record over 100 meters with 1: 20.6 minutes . Even so, she was not nominated for the 1930 British Empire Games . At the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles , she won the silver medal over 100 meters back behind the American Eleanor Holm . The following year she set another world record, but it was unofficial. The Australian sports star Reginald Baker praised her excellent swimming style in a newspaper article. In 1934 she ended her career as a swimmer. At this point, she held all state and state records over 100 and 150 yards, 100 meters, 200 and 400 meters.

In 1996 Bonnie Mealing was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame and also honored in the NSW Hall of Champions . She died at the age of 89. At the time of her death, she was the oldest surviving participant in the 1928 Olympic Games and the oldest living medalist in the 1932 Games.

Web links

Commons : Bonnie Mealing  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Ian Hanson: 1932 Aussie Olympian, Bonnie Mealing, Dies at 89. In: Swimming World. January 6, 2002, accessed July 1, 2015 .
  2. ^ Bonnie Mealing Retires. In: The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld .: 1933-1954). National Library of Australia, January 14, 1936, p. 11 , accessed July 2, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Philomena Mealing - Swimming. In: Sport Australia Hall of Fame. December 5, 1996, accessed July 1, 2015 .
  4. ↑ NSW Hall of Champions Honouree List. (No longer available online.) Sydney Olympic Park Sports Center, archived from the original on March 12, 2015 ; Retrieved July 2, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sports-centre.com.au
personal data
SURNAME Mealing, Bonnie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mealing, Philomena Alecia (full name); Johnston, Bonnie (married name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian swimmer
DATE OF BIRTH August 28, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Woolloomooloo
DATE OF DEATH January 1, 2002
Place of death Sydney