1943 - present

Maggi spent her early years in the family home at Ingleburn, then was an outer suburb of Sydney. During her teenage years, she became a competent dancer and performed on the TV show “Bandstand”. She and her girlfriend would take the train from Ingleburn to the Nine studios at Artarmon every Saturday to dance on the show. Years later Maggi became a professional dancer at the ‘Whisky a Go Go’ at Kings Cross. The Whisky was the first of Sydney’s discos, the format being women dancers in cages suspended over the dance floor with loud music played by a DJ. The Cross was awash with U.S servicemen on leave from the Vietnam War, so the place was packed every night. Maggi danced a long shift in her cage, then went home to Ingleburn.

One evening at Ingleburn, Maggi witnessed a young lady being beaten up by a male companion. This assault had a profound effect on our Maggi so she took up Martial Arts, she has been referred to as one of the first women to perform Kung Fu. She became highly qualified and later became a professional instructor in the discipline. Tiring of life in the big city, Maggi took off to live on a farm in rural Tasmania. A year proved long enough though, so she returned to Sydney and moved into a flat in Bondi.

Maggi took up swimming and along with a few brave ladies, joined the Icebergs Club. It’s difficult to imagine these days that the Bergs was fiercely men only and had resisted previous attempts to integrate. Now a Ladyberg, Maggi met a dedicated feminist from Bondi Surf Club, Peter Ryan who invited her down to a function at the Club. There she met Peter Murphy who signed her up, beginning a long career as an active member. On the day she first swam at Icebergs, Maggi was reported to be quite disappointed with her "really slow" time of 32 seconds for the 40-metre distance. More importantly, Maggi said it was "magical to be part of history. As soon as I got my new Icebergs costume I ran home and tried it on." A winter swimmer with the Bondi Mermaids for the past three years, she had never lobbied for membership of the Icebergs, but jumped at the chance when it became available. 

Maggi lived on Fletcher Street overlooking Tamarama for many years. She worked at Grace Brothers, Bondi Junction as a department head and she brought up her two grandsons. She travelled widely. During a trip to London one year, Maggi attended a function at Clarence House where she met and became a friend of the Prince of Wales and Camilla. It was Camilla who heard that a Bondi Lifesaver was present at the do and arranged a meeting. After that meeting, Maggi visited Highgrove Manor a few times and even introduced Camilla’s son to Bondi Beach. 

In 2016 Maggi purchased a beach house at Bermagui and joined the local surf club and swimming club. She still swims in the winter with the Bermagui Blue Balls and is an inspiration to many of the swimmers who join her.

Courtesy of Maggi.