Violet Walrond

Violet Ethel Mary Robb (née Walrond)[2] (27 February 1905 – 17 December 1996) was a New Zealand swimmer who represented New Zealand at the 1920 Summer Olympics at Antwerp.[3] She was New Zealand's first female Olympic athlete.[4]

Violet Robb
Violet Walrond in 1920
Personal information
Birth nameViolet Ethel Mary Walrond
Born(1905-02-27)27 February 1905
Auckland, New Zealand
Died17 December 1996(1996-12-17) (aged 91)
Papakura, New Zealand
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Spouse(s)
Harold Robb
​
(m. 1933)​
RelativesEmma Maria Walrond (grandmother)
Sport
SportSwimming
Achievements and titles
National finals100 yds freestyle champion (1920, 1923)[1]

Biography

Walrond was one of a team of four New Zealand athletes who competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics. At the age of 15 years 178 days, she was the youngest swimming competitor at the Games.[5] Walrond competed in two events at the Olympics.[6] In the 100 metre freestyle race, she came fifth in the final (untimed) after placing third in her heat with a time of 1:21.4.[6] In the 300 metre freestyle race, she came in seventh (although New Zealand newspapers said she was sixth, and some publications said she did not start due to illness) in the final (untimed) after finishing second in her heat in 5:04.6.[6] This was the only Olympics to have had a 300 metres women's freestyle race as it was replaced in 1924 by the 400 metres freestyle. She used the crawl style.

Walrond's father, Cecil 'Tui' Walrond, was also a swimmer. He accompanied her to the Olympics as chaperone and unofficial team trainer.[7]

Walrond and her younger sister Edna retired from competitive swimming in 1923 when Walrond was 18. She later stated that they retired on orders from their father, as he felt that we were too much in the public eye.[8] He also forbade them from cutting their long hair short.

She married Harold Robb in 1933, and died in 1996 aged 91, in Papakura, Auckland.[9] She was honoured in a ceremony in Wellington on 9 December 2020 where her family was presented with a pin in commemoration of her status as the first female Olympian to represent Aotearoa/New Zealand.[2]

References
  1. McLintock, A.H., ed. (1966). "Swimming—national championships". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  2. "Honouring Olympian Number Nine Violet Walrond". New Zealand Olympic Team. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  3. New Zealand Olympic Committee: Violet Walrond Profile. Olympic.org.nz. Retrieved on 2015-07-29.
  4. "First female competitors at the Olympics by country". Olympedia. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  5. Swimming at the 1920 Antwerpen Summer Games. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2015-07-29.
  6. Violet Walrond. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2015-07-29.
  7. "New Zealand's first female Olympian". nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
    • Our Olympic Century by Joseph Romanos pages 26–27 (2008, Trio Books, Wellington) ISBN 978-0-9582839-3-9
  9. "Violet Walrond". Olympedia. Retrieved 4 September 2021.

Further reading
  • McMillan, Neville (1993). New Zealand Sporting Legends: 27 Pre-War Sporting Heroes. Auckland: Moa Beckett. pp. 139–146. ISBN 1-869580-14-1.
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