Marrion_Roe

Marrion Roe

Marrion Roe

New Zealand swimmer


Marrion Douglass Roe (later Beck; 3 April 1935 29 June 2017) was a New Zealand swimmer who represented her country at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and the 1956 Summer Olympics.

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Biography

Born in Invercargill on 3 April 1935,[1] Roe later moved to Hamilton,[2] and represented Waikato at the New Zealand national swimming championships.[3] In all, she won eight national swimming titles: the 100 yards freestyle every year from 1952 to 1956; the 220 yards freestyle in 1954 and 1956; and the 440 yards freestyle in 1956.[3]

In 1954, Roe swam at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff. In the 110 yards freestyle, she finished fourth in the final, with a time of 1:08.9.[4] She recorded a time of 5:34.7 in her heat of the 440 yards freestyle and did not progress to the final.[5]

In February 1955, Roe swam what was at that time the fastest 100 yards freestyle in the Southern Hemisphere, recording a time of 59.0 seconds, which was 0.9 seconds outside Jody Braskamp's world record.[6]

She competed in 100 metres and 400 metres freestyle at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.[1] In the 100 metres she finished in seventh place in the final with a time of 1:05.6, while in the 400 metres she swam 5:18.5 to finish fourth in her heat and did not progress to the final.[1]

In early 1957, Roe married John Aitchison Beck, who was secretary of the Waikato Swimming Centre. On their honeymoon, she gave a demonstration at a swimming carnival in Gisborne.[2]

Marrion Beck was widowed by the death of her husband in 2010.[7][8] She died at Puriri Court Rest Home in Whangārei on 29 June 2017.[8]


References

  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Marrion Roe". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  2. "Marrion Roe in Gisborne". Gisborne Photo News. No. 31. 7 February 1957. p. 58. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  3. McLintock, A.H., ed. (1966). "Swimming – national championships". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Wellington: Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  4. "Fastest 100-yard swim in Southern Hemisphere". Canberra Times. 11 February 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  5. "Marrion Douglass Beck". The New Zealand Herald. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.

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