The Annual Inter-Hospital Swimming Carnival for Nurses was held from 1954 to 1963 at the Adelaide Olympic Pool. The event was open to both public and private hospitals and was very popular.
A major drawcard were the novelty events:
- ‘Get there as best you can’ swim race;
- Nurses Bathing Beauty Contest;
- Balloon swimming race;
- ‘Flappers with Flippers’ water polo team;
- Water ballet; and
- Water clowns.
The more conventional swimming events included freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and diving championship.
However, the event that all the hospitals wanted to win, was the Inter-Hospital Relay Cup. The winning hospital team would get their names engraved on the cup and would proudly display it until the following year.
Cup Winners:
- 1954 – Wakefield Street Private Hospital
- 1956 – Adelaide Children’s Hospital
- 1960 – The Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- 1961 – The Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- 1962 – The Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- 1963 – The Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Written by Margot Way, CALHN Health Museum