French honour Australia’s gold medal hero Cecil Healy
The living descendants of Australia’s only Olympic gold medallist to have died on the battlefield — Cecil Healy — have left the northern beaches for France to take part in events marking the centenary of his death.
Manly
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THE living descendants of Australia’s only Olympic gold medallist to have died on the battlefield left the northern beaches for France on Tuesday to take part in events marking the centenary of his death.
Cecil Healy, who lived in Manly, was killed on August 29, 1918, in a critical World War I battle near the town of Peronne. He was 36.
2nd Lieutenant Healy had volunteered to go to the front but was caught in a burst of machinegun fire as he led his men in an attack in the lead-up to the critical battle of Mont St Quentin.
Before joining up, Healy was considered one of the world’s best swimmers and was the popular captain of Manly surf club.
In 1904, aged 22, he swam an unofficial world record in the 100 yards freestyle and held six Australian titles between 1905 and 1910.
At the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm he was selected in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay. The team won the gold medal in world record time, ahead of the American team.
And although he was unplaced in the 400m freestyle, Healy won the silver medal in the 100m freestyle behind Hawaiian swimmer and surfer Duke Kahanamoku.
Mike Downman, of Dee Why, proudly names Healy, who enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces in 1915, as his great uncle.
On Tuesday, Mr Downman and his son Steve, of Cromer, flew out of Sydney for the village of Assevilliers. Mr Downman’s sister, Viv Degenhardt, of Mosman, left on Monday.
On Saturday, the descendants will take part in a 15km march between Peronne and Assevilliers, remembering Healy and other Australians who fought to liberate the area from the Germans.
Mr Downman said the march would end at Healy’s grave in the New British War Cemetery.
A ceremony remembering Healy’s bravery will be held before the unveiling of a statue to the swimmer in the grounds of a nearby church.
The local residents are staging an event named The Healy Race on Sunday, with cycling, running and swimming legs. Mike and Steve Downman have entered the race.
“We will be representing the family as well as Cecil’s beloved Manly,” Mr Downman said. “The local people are also installing a plaque at the pool in Cecil’s honour.”
An exhibition — Cecil Healy: When A Champion Became A Soldier — will be staged in the Assevilliers Town Hall, along with a concert for the centenary of the liberation of the village.
“A local man named Bertrand Fareneau has a fascination with Cecil Healy,” Mr Downman said. “He has helped organise the march and the other events as a tribute to my great uncle.
“Bertrand wants to honour him because he was the only Olympic gold medallist to be killed while fighting in a war.”
Healy’s death was noted in nearly every newspaper in Australia and tributes poured in eulogising his character and personality, his manner and demeanour and his generosity of spirit.