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.

Winning Hospital: The Queen Elizabeth Hospital
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