Irene Steer learned to swim in Roath Park Lake when she was only eight years old and went on to become Wales’ first female world record holder and first Olympic gold medalist. She struck gold in Stockholm in 1912 as the anchor leg swimmer in the victorious, world record breaking British 4 x 100 yards freestyle relay team. They won by 12 yards. It would be 96 years before another Welsh woman struck gold at the Olympics when Nicole Cook won the women’s cycling road race in Beijing on 10 August, 2008 – Steer’s birthday.
Having started life as a breaststroke swimmer with Cardiff Ladies Premier Swimming Club, Steer converted to freestyle and adopted the ‘Australian crawl’ style. She was one of six British women selected for the Olympic Games, but suffered in the individual event when she was involved in a collision with another swimmer in the semi-finals and disqualified. The Games in Stockholm were the first in which women took part in swimming. Steer was one of only 50 women at the 1912 games out of 2,500 competitors.
She became the first Welsh swimmer to be awarded a Welsh Swimming Association certificate for breaking 100 second for 100 yards in 1907. She won the Welsh 100 yards title for seven years in a row from 1907 until she retired in 1913. In 1910 she also became the first Welsh woman to win an English national when she equalled the world record for 100 yards freestyle (1 min, 13 3/5ths sec) at Weston Super Mare. She had been the runner-up in the two previous years. Steer married Cardiff City director and chairman Captain William Nicholson in 1915.
Irene Steer (Swimmer) Born in Cardiff on 10 August, 1889; Died in Cardiff on 18 April, 1977.
