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Environment and Heritage

Wilhelmina (Mina) Wylie

Australian champion and Olympic medallist swimmer (1891–1984)

Autographed image of Wilhelmina (Mina) Wylie, 1918.
Image Credit: Sears' Studios/National Museum of Australia
 

Location

Grant Reserve (4B Neptune Street entry), Coogee NSW 2034 

Sydney Coast is on land traditionally occupied by the Bidjigal, Birrabirragal and Gadigal people.

Accessibility

Wheelchair accessible

About Wilhelmina (Mina) Wylie

The sporting world has long been dominated by rivalries that have captivated audiences and made for history making clashes. However, 100 years before we had Serena versus Venus, Kobe versus LeBron or Thorpie versus Phelps, we had Mina versus Fanny.

Wilhelmina 'Mina' Wylie and Sarah ‘Fanny’ Durack were born in North Sydney just 2 years apart. Though they had radically different starts to their swimming careers, fate would bring them together and create a story for the ages. The pair overcame many hardships to become the first Australian women Olympic champions and the first women in the world to win Olympic medals in swimming. Their remarkable story highlights the strength and resilience of pioneering female athletes.

An elderly woman stands beside a portrait of her younger self in the Hall of Champions. The portrait shows the younger woman wearing a vest decorated with medals or badges. The elderly woman wears a blazer with an embroidered emblem and several pins.
Mina is pictured next to a portrait of her in the Hall of Champions.
Image Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald

Mina is pictured next to her portrait in the Hall of Champions

Water baby

Born in 1891, Mina had swimming in her blood. Her father was a house painter turned long-distance plunging champion and, by just 5, she had joined him and her 2 brothers in a daring aquatic act where she swam underwater with her hands and feet tied together.

Her father quickly recognised her innate talents and began increasing the intensity of her training. However, rules restricting women from swimming in the presence of men in public pools remained limited Mina, so in 1907 her father built Coogee Baths (now Wylie’s Baths) to enable her to train with greater freedom.

It was here that Mina and Fanny Durack first crossed paths when Fanny began training at the baths. Over the following years, Mina and Fanny became close friends and training partners. Mina’s father encouraged them to innovate their swimming, working with them to perfect the stroke known as the ‘Australian Crawl’ (now known colloquially as freestyle).

Winner, winner

By the 1910–11 season, Mina was making big waves in the Australian swimming scene. That year Mina set a world record for the 100 yards freestyle at Rushcutters Bay Baths, beating the 5-year-old record held by Englishwoman Jenny Fletcher by 1.5 seconds. Over the season she went on to win against class fields over 50 yards, 100 yards and 440 yards. At the Australasian championships at Rose Bay, she bested Fanny Durack in the 100 yards breaststroke and the 100 yards and 200 yards freestyle.

Mina quickly rose to be one of the most dominant Australian swimmers of the era, racking up numerous national wins and unofficial world records. Had she been born a few years earlier, this may have been the pinnacle of her career; however, the announcement that the 1912 Stockholm Olympic games would feature the very first Olympic women’s swimming event provided Mina with the opportunity to make history representing her country on the world stage.

Sepia-toned photograph from 1910 showing Wilhelmina (Mina) Wylie standing barefoot on a beach, wearing a dark, sleeveless one-piece swimsuit. Her long hair is loose, and she poses with one hand on her hip in front of a rocky background.
Wilhelmina (Mina) Wylie at the beach, 1910.
Image Credit: Photographer unknown/Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, PXE 1028.

Wilhelmina (Mina) Wylie at the beach, 1910

Swimming against the tide

The first modern Olympic Games to feature female athletes was the 1900 Games in Paris. Each subsequent games, new women’s events were added, with swimming being perhaps one of the most controversial. Today, thousands of Sydneysiders flock to the beaches and public pools every day. However, in the early 1900s the increased interest in swimming clashed with ideas about ‘moral decency’. Many countries sought to uphold various restrictions, with Australian lawmakers imposing various laws such as a ban on men and women swimming together. While the laws were soon abandoned, mixed bathing remained a controversial subject.

Rose Scott, the President of the NSW Ladies' Amateur Swimming Association (which Fanny and Mina were both members of) firmly believed not only that men and women should not share a pool, but also that men should not watch women compete – as would be expected during the Olympics. Indeed, for the duration of their careers thus far, Mina and Fanny had only ever trained and competed in gender-segregated pools. While many did disagree with this position, the lack of support from their home representative body put Fanny and Mina’s Olympic campaign in jeopardy.

When the 1912 Olympic team was announced, Fanny's and Mina’s names were both absent. The Swimming Association said that this was because they could not afford to send female competitors. There was nationwide public outrage. Local and international publications ran stories urging the association to reconsider, and unsolicited donations from the public soon flooded in. Eventually the association relented, and Fanny and Mina formed the first Australian Olympic Ladies’ Swimming Team.

Black and white portrait of Mina Wylie wearing a sleeveless dress covered with numerous winner's badges. The badges form a dense pattern across the front of the dress. Her hair falls simply over her shoulders. The background is plain and light-colored, drawing focus to the detailed display of badges.
Portrait of Mina Wiley wearing her collection of winner's badges, circa 1915.
Image Credit: Bettmann/Corbis/Getty Images

Portrait of Mina Wiley wearing her collection of winner’s badges, circa 1915

We are the champions

The women exceeded all expectations, both winning their heats and semi-finals and setting up an electric final. They even offered to swim 2 legs each so they could compete in the 4 x 100 m relay but were eventually refused permission. In the end, Fanny pipped Mina to take the 100 m freestyle gold, making them the first women in the world to win Olympic medals in swimming.

Fanny and Mina arrived back to Australia as heroes and carried that momentum through for several more years. While the cancellation of the 1916 Olympics due to World War I prevented them from defending their Olympic titles, they continued their successes.

By the time Mina retired in 1934, she had amassed 115 titles, including every Australian and NSW championship event in 1911, 1922 and 1924 in freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke.

A lasting legacy

Mina became one of the first female sporting celebrities, travelling to Europe and the USA to participate in various swimming carnivals. In 1975, she was selected as an honouree to the International Swimming Hall of Fame. In an unfortunate parallel to her 1912 Olympic campaign, Mina’s request to the federal government for expenses to attend the induction ceremony was denied, which again resulted in a nationwide fundraising campaign to cover her expenses.

Post-retirement, both Mina and Fanny dedicated themselves to coaching the next generation of swimmers, with Wylie teaching swimming at Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Pymble, from 1928 to 1970. The pair, who remained close friends for the remainder of their lives, are remembered as national heroines. They were instrumental in changing attitudes towards women’s sport and paved the way for the host of champion Australian women swimmers to follow.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics, 112 years after Fanny and Mina’s Olympic debut, women claimed 6 out of Australia’s 7 gold medals for swimming.

  • Sepia-toned photograph of 6 individuals, including Mina Wylie, Fanny Durack, and Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, standing on a beach. They are dressed in early 20th-century swimwear and posed in front of an outrigger canoe. A building surrounded by trees and distant hills is visible in the background.
    Mina Wylie and Fanny Durack with Duke Paoa Kahanamoku and others in Honolulu
    Mina Wylie and Fanny Durack with Duke Paoa Kahanamoku and others, probably at Waikiki Beach, Honolulu. Date unknown.
    Image Credit: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales [PXE 1028]
  • Three female swimmers standing on a diving board in one-piece swimsuits with arms extended forward, preparing to dive. In the background are spectators and a wooden structure near the water's edge.
    Fanny Durack and Mina Wylie, with British swimmer Jennie Fletcher
    Fanny Durack and Mina Wylie, with British swimmer Jennie Fletcher, no date
    Image Credit: National Museum of Australia
  • Mina Wylie at her Coogee home, holding a badge inscribed with 'AUSTRALASIA 1912' and an emblem featuring a cross and stars. She is wearing a patterned blouse, and the background includes textured glass panels.
    Mina Wiley pictured at her Coogee home
    Mina Wiley pictured at her Coogee home
    Image Credit: Sydney Morning Herald

References