Purple plaque: Irene Steer

During my most recent visit to Cardiff's Roath Park Lake, on 7 January 2016, I took some photos of this purple plaque. 

I'm sure I must have noticed the plaque before but had not paid it any attention. I determined to find out more, both about the plaque itself and the woman it commemorated:

Irene Steer, 1889-1977, Swimmer : Olympic Gold Medallist
Remarkable women in Wales

A quick online search brought up the website, Purple Plaques, which explained that the plaques were dedicated to Welsh women whose achievements deserved more recognition than they had previously received. As the website explains:

There are currently an estimated 250 mainly blue plaques commemorating notable figures in Wales, and only a few of these are female. Purple Plaques aims to address this inequality and give women a prominent place in history.

As you can see from my photographs, Irene Steer's plaque is to recognise her noteworthy sporting achievements, which culminated, at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, in her being the first Welsh woman to win an Olympic gold medal. The Purple Plaques website provides more detail of this incredible event so I thought I'd try, by searching through the digitised editions of old Welsh newspapers, to discover more about the lead up to that gold medal performance. Here's what I found:

Evening Express, 19 October 1907

MISS IRENE STEER

LADY CHAMPION SWIMMER OF WALES.

To Miss Irene Steer, daughter of Mr. George Steer, 32, The Parade, Cardiff, has fallen the honour of bringing to Cardiff for the first time the swimming championship of Wales. This is specially praiseworthy considering the fact that she is but eighteen years of age. Miss Steer, quite early in life, showed a remarkable liking for the water, and at the age of nine she was able to swim. Since then she has made extraordinary progress in the art, and soon outclassed most of the girls who opposed her. Prior to winning the championship Miss Steer had succeeded in winning no less than fifteen prizes. On the occasion of the championship at Swansea on Tuesday evening last, we may point out that she swam the distance of 100 yards in record time for a Welsh lady, doing it in 93sec. and so beating Miss Daisy Chapman, of Swansea, who last year took 106sec. to cover the distance. Miss Steer, who is a most graceful swimmer, has been instructed by Mr. Mark Taylor, of the Cathedral-road Baths.

Just two years later, Irene was making headlines once more, as you can see from this article published in the Evening Express, 29 August 1908:

CHAMPION LADY SWIMMER 

MISS IRENE STEER AND HER ACHIEVEMENTS.

That Miss Irene Steer, of Cardiff, the Welsh champion lady swimmer, has thoroughly earned her title cannot be denied. Her victory twelve months ago over Miss Chapman, of Swansea, who held the championship for five years, came as a big surprise, but no one who attended the Cardiff Swimming Club's gala on Thursday to see Miss Steer defend her title anticipated defeat. Their anticipation proved correct, for after winning her heat in the easiest possible manner, she gained a decisive victory in the final from Miss Fennell, also of Cardiff. Her performance was really remarkable, for her time, 1min. 25 3-5sec., is only about 7sec. outside the world's record for the 100 yards. Miss Steer, whose portrait we reproduce, is eighteen years, and the daughter of Mr. George Steer, draper, The Parade, Cardiff. She learnt to swim at the early age of eight, and under the able tuition of Mr. Mark Taylor, late of the Cardiff Corporation Baths, and now of the Premier Baths, Cathedral-road, she soon showed promise of becoming a fine swimmer. She won numerous minor events, but it was only two years ago that she first thought seriously of competing for the Welsh championship. Up to this period Miss Steer had been content to rely on the graceful breast stroke, but on the advice of her trainer, who was secretly confident that there was a great future in store for his pupil, she changed her stroke to the overarm, with the result that at the first attempt she succeeded in carrying off the coveted championship at the Swansea Baths last year. The chief feature of Miss Steer's swimming is her effective kick. Next Wednesday Miss Steer will compete for the English ladies' championship at the Hackney Baths, London, and lovers of this healthy recreation in South Wales may rest assured that she will put up a good fight to uphold the credit of Wales.

It seems Irene's achievements were not confined to swimming, as she also excelled at the complementary sport of water polo, as noted in the Evening Express, 7 July 1910:

WATER POLO.
WELSH INTERNATIONAL WITH SCOTLAND.
The water-polo match between Scotland and Wales will take place at Newport on 1 September 10.
CARDIFF LADIES' MATCH.
The Cardiff Premier Ladies' Swimming Club defeated the Cardiff Ladies' Club at the swimming baths by four goals to nil, the latter team being quite outclassed. Miss Irene Steer scored the four goals.

 And, later that year, on 20 August 1910, the Weekly Mail newspaper was singing Irene Steer's praises when she won her first British swimming championship, and that in a world record time. The reporter manages to convey the excitement of the event with their report, I think:

WORLD'S RECORD TIME

MISS STEER WINS BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP.

Miss Irene Steer, of the Cardiff Premier Ladies' Swimming Club, accomplished an excellent performance at the Knightstone Baths, Weston-super-Mare, on Monday by winning the 100 Yards Ladies National Championship in record time, defeating the holder, Miss Jennie Fletcher, Leicester, by over 4sec. This was the third time for Miss Steer to contest the event, the two previous occasions seeing her finish second to Miss Fletcher, who had held the title for the past six years. On the present occasion the holder was badly beaten, both in her heat and in the final, Miss Steer winning by a yard in her heat, while quite half-a-dozen yards divided the pair in the final. The time—lmin. 13 3-5sec.— equals the world's record made by Miss Fletcher last year. There was a splendid entry for the event, including Miss Mackay, the Scottish lady champion and 100 yards record holder, Miss Jessie Spiers, Liverpool, and many other district champions, but the four ladies mentioned were confidently expected to enter the final, and this proved to be so, Miss Steer and Miss Fletcher qualifying in the first beat, which the Cardiff lady won by a yard in 77sec., and Miss Spiers winning somewhat easily from Miss Mackay in the second heat, which took 79 1-5sec.

THE FINAL.

The four ladies were accorded a great ovation when they came out for the final. Miss Fletcher had No. 1 station, Miss Steer No. 2, Miss Mackay No. 3, and Miss Spiers the outside. A good start was effected, Miss Steer being the last to enter the water by a fraction of a second. The Cardiff lady, however, soon made headway, and at twenty yards was leading slightly. On the first turn Miss Steer led the holder by a yard, with Miss Spiers third a similar distance away. Making the pace for the second length, Miss Steer, swimming a true crawl stroke, gained considerably on the holder, and led by five yards when they turned for the last stage. The holder, who was using her favourite overarm stroke, made the turn beautifully and reduced the gap by a couple of yards through it, but, settling down again to her "crawl." Miss Steer again forged ahead, winning amid much cheering by about six yards from the holder, with Miss Spier[s] third four yards away. One of the first to congratulate the new champion was Miss Fletcher, who shook hands directly they were out of the water, remarking, "It's your turn now, Miss Steer, and you deserve it for your magnificent swim."

It would be 96 years before another Welsh woman was awarded an Olympic gold medal (Nicole Cook, cycling, 2008), which makes Irene Steer's win all the more amazing. Let's hope the installation of the Purple Plaque at Roath Park Lake will prompt more young women to aspire to such achievements.