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‘The bloke with a stroke’

2004; Routledge; Volume: 39; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/0022334042000290379

1469-9605

Gary Osmond, Murray G. Phillips,

Sport and Mega-Event Impacts

Abstract Solomon Islander swimmer Alick Wickham is a celebrated figure in Australian, Solomon Islander and international sport history. His iconic status is inextricably linked to the myth that he introduced the crawl stroke, commonly known as freestyle, to Australia and hence the wider world. The focus of this paper is not the mythic qualities of Wickham's contribution to the crawl stroke, but rather how this myth has been enmeshed in a range of discourses. Through the lens of postcolonialism and by focusing on the creation of social memory — in literature, postage stamps and documentaries — Wickham's contribution to the crawl stroke has been represented in three dominant ways: as a racial discourse centring on the social construction of the 'nimble savage', as part of Australian nationalism in terms of the nation's contribution to world swimming, and as a discernible dimension in the construction of Solomon Islander identity after independence.