Beatrice Maude Kerr
Australian, 1887 - 1971
Kerr began competitive swimming at Geelong and in Melbourne at Brighton and Albert Park. In 1905 she won medals in the Victorian Championships for the 110 yards (91.4 m) and 120 yards (109.7m) events and a gold bangle for the Australasian Amateur Championship. In the same year she completed 366 swimming and diving performances during a twenty week season at the Princes Court pleasure gardens in Melbourne. She was a rival of Annette Kellerman who judged Kerr in a diving event at Brighton Baths where Kerr took out first place. During a six week tour to Adelaide, Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie and Perth in 1906, Kerr won five open championships, entered forty-three races and won forty-three prizes. She was accompanied on tour by her sister and brother-in-law who acted as her manager.
In order to consolidate her professional swimming career Kerr sailed from Perth to London in 1906. She stayed in Britain for five years performing in public baths in the summer and at theatres and other venues during the winter months. Like Annette Kellerman she competed and performed in London and toured to other cities and towns in Britain. Her performances included demonstrations of a range of swimming strokes and dives including the trugdeon, single over-arm stroke, side stroke, back stroke, the stand-sit dive, back-front dive, the waterwheel, spinning stop and the Australian Splash.
At this time swimming was still a novelty and both Kerr and Kellerman made an impact with their sleeveless men's racing suits which they wore in competition and for photographs. One of Kerr's performance suits had metallic spangles resembling fish scales while another was embroidered with a kangaroo and 'Australia'. Such suits while accepted for women in competition were considered indecent in public.
Both Kerr and Kellerman built their careers on their physical accomplishments, with a constructed public image based on bodily display and sensationalism with their daring and revealing swimming costumes.
Kerr continued touring Britain until 1911. She returned to Australia in October 1911 and married Griffith Ellis Williams, a Welsh-born dispenser in Redfern, Sydney and then retired from professional swimming.
Beatrice Williams died in Coogee and was buried at Waverley cemetery. She was survived by her only son.
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