Marrion Roe
Roe in 1955
Personal information
Birth nameMarrion Douglass Roe
Born(1935-04-03)3 April 1935
Invercargill, New Zealand
Died29 June 2017(2017-06-29) (aged 82)
Whangārei, New Zealand
Spouse
John Aitchison Beck
​
​
(m. 1957; died 2010)​
Achievements and titles
National finals100 yd freestyle champion (1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956)
220 yd freestyle champion (1954, 1956)
440 yd freestyle champion (1956)

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.

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. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b "Marrion Roe in Gisborne". Gisborne Photo News. No. 31. 7 February 1957. p. 58. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  3. ^ a b McLintock, A.H., ed. (1966). "Swimming – national championships". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Wellington: Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  4. ^ "Results for the 1954 British Empire & Commonwealth Games – Swimming – 110 yard freestyle – women". Commonwealth Games Federation. 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Results for the 1954 British Empire & Commonwealth Games – Swimming – 440 yard freestyle – women". Commonwealth Games Federation. 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Fastest 100-yard swim in Southern Hemisphere". Canberra Times. 11 February 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  7. ^ Skipworth, Mary (28 March 2016). "Family of John Scott, engineer, 1828–1905 and Ann Hamilton, 1834–1909 of Lanark, Scotland and Dunedin, NZ" (PDF). Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  8. ^ a b "Marrion Douglass Beck". The New Zealand Herald. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
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