resting_place death_date death_place religion birth_place other_names nationality name birth_date alt image article_title birth_name occupation
waverley cemetery 03 august 1971 coogee , new south wales church of england williamstown , victoria beatrice williams -lrb- married name -rrb- australian beatrice kerr 30 november 1887 a showing a white woman of medium build with shoulder-length wavy sepia-toned hair , wearing a one-piece swimming costume with the word photograph `` australia '' on the front and a depiction of taken a kangaroo . she has nine medals pinned to costume from around the upper chest area , and is wearing another the medal around her neck . waist up , beatrice kerr -lrb- cropped -rrb- . jpg beatrice kerr
 beatrice maude kerr aquatic performer
beatrice kerr

beatrice maude williams -lrb- née kerr ; 30 november 1887 -- 3 august 1971 -rrb- , known professionally as beatrice kerr , was an australian swimmer , diver , and aquatic performer .
born in melbourne , kerr learnt to swim at albert park lake , and won medals at both the victorian and australasian championships in 1905 , at the age of 17 .
early the following year , she toured south australia and western australia , winning every race she entered .
from there , kerr went to england , giving swimming exhibitions in bradford , liverpool , london , and manchester , being billed as `` australia 's champion lady swimmer and diver '' .
she returned to australia in october 1911 , living the rest of her life in sydney , new south wales .
although often compared to annette kellerman , another australian swimmer , kerr 's repeated challenges to kellerman to race went unanswered .
