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Story: Swimming

Learning to swim: 1916 certificate

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Learning to swim: 1916 certificate

From the early 1900s, with government financial assistance, the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association provided instructors to teach schoolchildren to swim. They issued proficiency certificates such as this one earned by Dolly Dudson of Carterton.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: Eph-C-CERTIFICATES-Dudson-1916-01

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

John McBeth, Swimming – Swimming for recreation and sport, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/ephemera/40204/learning-to-swim-1916-certificate (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by John McBeth, published 30 November 2012, updated 27 January 2015.