Her equable temperament – said to be her greatest asset – together with natural talent and an exceptional technique, helped her to become a leader in women’s bowls. Her victory in the world bowls in 1973 gave New Zealand women’s bowls a high profile.
Ina Lamason was a sporting phenomenon. She represented New Zealand at cricket and hockey, was an international hockey umpire and served both sports as an administrator.
Hedwick Wilhelmina McDonald’s greatest achievement as a racehorse trainer does not appear in record books; nor does her real name. She trained the winner of the 1938 Melbourne Cup, but because women were not permitted to be professional trainers in Australia at the time, her husband temporarily took over the role. As for her name, most of her life she was known simply as ‘Granny’.
In an era when the achievements of women in sport received scant regard from New Zealand newspapers and radio, Dot Simons made the field her own.
Du Faur is significant as the best amateur climber of her day and as the first woman to take up high climbing in New Zealand
New Zealand show-jumper
Elected to the board of the Essendon Football Club in 1993, she was the first woman to hold that position at an Australian Football League (AFL) club. Knight is also well know for the leading role she has taken in bringing the work of Aboriginal artists to public notice. She is a former president of the Australian Commercial Galleries Association and helped develop a code of conduct to protect Aboriginal artists from exploitative dealers.
Esther Marion Pretoria James was remarkable for the diversity of her achievements, and in the 1930s became a national celebrity during a sponsored walk of the length of New Zealand.
American mountain climber and suffragist
Eve Rimmer was one of New Zealand’s greatest paraplegic athletes, winning 32 medals – including 22 gold medals – for athletics and swimming at international sporting events. A household name during the late 1960s and 1970s, she was also an outspoken advocate for the rights of the disabled in sport and society.