Draft:Alick Wickham

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Alick Wickham[edit]

Alick Wickham (born June 1, 1886[1]) was a Solomon Islander internationally acclaimed swimmer and diver. Wickham resided in Sydney from 1901-1927 where he achieved several national and New South Wales titles for swimming. Yet perhaps Wickham's most significant achievement is his 62 meter (205 feet, nine inches) swan dive into the Yarra River, Melbourne in 1918 in which he was credited with breaking a world diving record and attracted more than 70,000 spectators from all across Melbourne. Wickham is also widely known for being a pioneer of the modern front crawl.

Alick Wickham
Personal information
Birth nameAlick Wickham
NationalitySolomon Islander
BornJune 1, 1886
Gizo, New Georgia, Roviana Lagoon, Solomon Islands
Died11 August, 1967 (age 81)
National Referral Hospital, Honiara, Solomon Islands
ResidenceSydney
OccupationSwimmer, diver
Weight12 st (168 lb; 76 kg)

Early life[edit]

Wickham was born on June 1, 1886 in Gizo, New Georgia in the Solomon Islands to Frank Wickham (q.v) and Pinge Naru.[2] He was of predominately Melanesian heritage and had at least one sibling, a brother, Ted who was killed while serving as a soldier in France. At the age of 7, he moved from the Solomon Islands to Sydney in his father's schooner. In Sydney, as a schoolboy, Wickham would work as a 'house boy' and in his free time, he would swim at the sea baths in Bronte Beach where he was often observed by prominent members of the Australian sporting scene including notable Australian coach of the time, George Farmer. Farmer would observe speedy Wickham and shout, "look at that kid crawling!"[3] From this comment the stroke label, the Australian crawl, was coined then later developed by other swimmers. Sydneysider, Arthur Freeman would watch Wickham too and claimed that, "Wickham's six-beat kick reminded me [Freeman] of an outboard motor".[4]

Sporting achievements[edit]

As a talented aquatic sportsman and pioneer, Wickham served as the inaugural Australasian dive champion in 1904 and from 1908-1912 was the New South Wales state champion for both diving and swimming.[5] Wickham is also credited as having a role to play in the development of body surfing.[6] Wickham often performed wild stunts at swimming carnivals and events. He also achieved the unofficial world record for fifty-yards freestyle in 1910.[7]

Record dive[edit]

In April, 1918, Wickham took what was purported to be a record-breaking 62 meter swan dive into the Yarra River at Deep Rock Swimming Club. Up to 70,000 inner-city residents came to watch in awe at Wickham's eventful dive. In the early 20th century, the much cleaner Yarra River was a popular place to swim for Melbournians and saw a peak in popularity in the 1920's. Wickham's dive was partially organised by notorious businessman, John Wren to raise funds for Australian soldiers. An article titled "Alick Wickham's Sensational Dive" by W.F. Corbett published by Sydney-based The Referee newspaper on Wednesday 17 April 1918 describes Wickham's momentous 62 meter high dive. [8] In an interview included in the article following the dive Wickham says, "I [Wickham]could not say how I reached the water or how I struck it. But I do know that I was sore and bleeding in places from the chest to the waist. My costume was torn from neck to knee. Must have hit the surface with my body you think. So do I".[9]

Personal life[edit]

At the time Wickham was known as quite an 'exotic' identity and was often billed as a foreign prince, Prince Wickyama. Wickham married Dorothy Bellisario Fraser on 25 July, 1917 in Sydney. The couple gave birth to a daughter named Joyce (c. 1918-1996). Too old for competitive swimming, Wickham drove taxis to make ends meet and took part in a variety of other jobs.[10] After the death of his father in the late 1920s, Wickham permanently returned to the Solomon Islands and led a life of obscurity. He then remarried three times and had at least two children.[11] Wickham remarried to Ima Tako (c. 1880s-1969) on the island of Munda with whom he had 2 sons, Rex Pae (d. 2002) and Alick Gena (Kena) Wickham (d. 2001).[12] With the exception of working as a scout in World War II, Wickham remained in Munda for the rest of his life. He died in hospital in the nation's capital, Honiara of natural causes on the 11 August 1967 and was buried in the Old Colonial Graveyard in Honiara.[13]

Legacy[edit]

Wickham is recognised in the the International Swimming Hall of Fame[14] in the United States and the Australian Sporting Hall of Fame[15] for being one of the first to introduce the freestyle stroke to Australia and is featured in documentaries on television, the radio, movies and in many books and articles. While in the Solomon Islands, he is honoured in many sites including a swimming pool in Honiara carrying his namesake since 1973.[16] He also featured in commemorative postal stamp booklets in the Solomon Islands in 1984.[17] The site of Wickham's legendary dive is located by the Yarra River in Yarra Bend Park, Fairfield and is marked with a placard. This site is also the former Deep Rock Swimming Club.

  1. ^ Moore, Clive. "Wickham, Alick F. - Biographical entry - Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia". www.solomonencyclopaedia.net. Retrieved 2018-11-10.
  2. ^ Moore, Clive. "Wickham, Alick F. - Biographical entry - Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia". www.solomonencyclopaedia.net. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
  3. ^ "Sport Australia Hall of Fame - Member Profile". www.sahof.org.au. Retrieved 2018-11-10.
  4. ^ "Sport Australia Hall of Fame - Member Profile". www.sahof.org.au. Retrieved 2018-11-10.
  5. ^ Moore, Clive. "Wickham, Alick F. - Biographical entry - Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia". www.solomonencyclopaedia.net. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
  6. ^ "Sport Australia Hall of Fame - Member Profile". www.sahof.org.au. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
  7. ^ www.websterworld.com. "WebsterWorld - Online Encyclopedia - Australian Encyclopedia - World Encyclopedia - Education Resource - WebsterWorld". www.websterworld.com. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
  8. ^ "Alick Wickham's Sensational Dive". Referee (Sydney, NSW : 1886 - 1939). 1918-04-17. p. 14. Retrieved 2018-11-10.
  9. ^ "17 Apr 1918 - Alick Wickham's Sensational Dive". trove.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 2018-11-10.
  10. ^ Danno (2015-07-18). "Beside the Yarra: Prince Wikyama and His Amazing World Record Dive". Beside the Yarra. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
  11. ^ Danno (2015-07-18). "Beside the Yarra: Prince Wikyama and His Amazing World Record Dive". Beside the Yarra. Retrieved 2018-11-10.
  12. ^ Moore, Clive. "Wickham, Alick F. - Biographical entry - Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia". www.solomonencyclopaedia.net. Retrieved 2018-11-10.
  13. ^ Moore, Clive. "Wickham, Alick F. - Biographical entry - Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia". www.solomonencyclopaedia.net. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
  14. ^ "ISHOF.org | International Swimming Hall of Fame Honorees by Country". https://www.facebook.com/ISHOF. Retrieved 2018-11-11. External link in |website= (help)
  15. ^ "Sport Australia Hall of Fame - Member Profile". www.sahof.org.au. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
  16. ^ Moore, Clive. "Wickham, Alick F. - Biographical entry - Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia". www.solomonencyclopaedia.net. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
  17. ^ Moore, Clive. "Wickham, Alick F. - Biographical entry - Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia". www.solomonencyclopaedia.net. Retrieved 2018-11-11.