1943 - 2021

Champion swimmer and lifelong Bondi resident Lea Hill was born in 1943 in Waverley War Memorial Hospital. In 1995, she made history by being one of the first pioneering woman to join the Bondi Icebergs Winter Swimming Club, in which members swim on Sundays between May and September.

As a member of Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club (BSBLSC), she made an incredible contribution by serving as a lifesaver, secretary, athlete and volunteer. She was a pioneer in female masters surf sports at a time when women competing in their 60s or older was a rarity. She won 11 gold medals at the Australian Surf Lifesaving Championships. She loved competition, took on any conditions and finished her races with a smile.

Despite taking to swimming later in life, Lea was a member of Coogee Randwick Masters Swimmers, one of the clubs of the NSW Masters Association.

In 2019 at the Australian Winter Swimming Championships, in Perth, she broke the Australian freestyle record in the ‘Over 75’ category by 6.2 seconds. Also in 2019, the Icebergs voted her their first female Life Member. Lea died in 2021 at age 78 and is named on the BSBLSC’s honour roll.

Courtesy Lea Hill, Emma Pask and Eve Wheeler.