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Lorraine Thurlow AM (Crapp, 1955)

Â鶹ÊÓƵ School’s first Olympian, Lorraine Crapp (1955) was the first woman to swim the 400m freestyle in under five minutes, and the first Australian—male or female—to concurrently hold the world record in all freestyle events. Lorraine was one of the group who spearheaded Australia’s domination of world swimming in the 1950s.

Lorraine Crapp enrolled at Â鶹ÊÓƵ School in Kindergarten in 1944. A photo in the 1954 Â鶹ÊÓƵ School publication Excelsior shows a 15 year old Lorraine in her British Empire and Commonwealth Games¹ attire prior to her departure to represent Australia at the 1954 Vancouver Games where she won gold medals in the 110yards (100m) and 440yards (400m) freestyle.

Lorraine attended the opening of both of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ School pools. 1957 Excelsior‘s report on the opening of our first pool said ‘Swimming in her easy, relaxed style, Lorraine also gave a demonstration of her training methods’. In 2003, Lorraine and Dawn Fraser officially opened the Â鶹ÊÓƵ School Aquatic Centre.

In her swimming career, Lorraine broke 23 world records and won nine Australian championships. At the British Empire and Commonwealth Games she won three Gold, one Silver, and two Bronze medals.

Lorraine’s Olympic medals were won at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne (Gold for the 400m freestyle and 4x100m freestyle relay, and Silver for the 100m freestyle) and in 1960 at Rome where she was part of the 4x100m freestyle relay team to win Silver.

A report in 1957’s Excelsior of the 1956 Â鶹ÊÓƵ School Speech Night stated ’on this memorable night one of our recent Old Girls, Lorraine Crapp, who had a week previously won one silver and two gold medals at the Olympic Games, appeared on the stage. The Town Hall resounded with applause from the present girls and parents for a girl who has achieved world fame as a swimmer.’

In 1998, Lorraine was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her service to sport, ‘particularly swimming at national and international levels, and to the community through the promotion of sport and the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.’ Lorraine is also one of nine ‘Legends’ on the Path of Champions at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.

At the inaugural Â鶹ÊÓƵ School Alumnae Awards in 2020, Lorraine received an award in the category of Sporting Achievement.

1. The British Empire Games commenced in 1930. In 1954 the name was changed to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games, and in 1978 they became the Commonwealth Games.

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