Nature had gifted Annette Kellerman with many talents. She was an actress, a world class swimmer, dress designer and a fitness expert. Born in 1887 in Australia, she radicalized every field she came across. She was far ahead of her time in more than one way.
Appearing fully nude in 1916 film, A Daughter of the Gods, she also was the first female to have dared the English Channel. She tried to cross the Channel for three times but remained unsuccessful and attributed her inability to lack of strength. If her career is to be remembered for one exceptional talent, it would be swimming. She just turned the woman swimming scene upside down.It seems miraculous considering the fact that she had some disease that made her lower limbs weak. Her parents worried about the disability first and made their daughter to wear painful steel braces and then pursued their daughter to consider swimming on regular basis and… the rest is history. Once her legs were normalized, there was nothing to stop her. At 15 she had won her first race. She also started exhibiting her talent at different shows. In 1902 Annette Kellerman made world record in women’s 100 yards and mile races.
Her ballet in New York Hippodrome is often said to have given birth to Synchronized Swimming. She also popularized women swim suits or bikinis. Wearing a short swimming dress was a taboo in early 20th century. She was not at all ashamed to appear in public wearing a calf up swim suit. She was once arrested for wearing the dress in public. As she appeared in court she explained wearing the conventional dress is like swimming in chains.
She remained very active throughout her life and only abandoned her usual life style shortly before her death in 1975.
Annette Kellerman
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