Lucie Gordian z'l

Lucie Gordian was born in Vienna Austria in 1918 and became a European swimming sensation at 13 when she began her competitive sporting career. She competed at contests in Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

In 1935 she was chosen to represent the Jewish sporting club Hakoah at the Second International Maccabiah Games held at Tel Aviv, and returned home with a bag of medals. Her record time of 1.26 for the 100-metre backstroke stood for 20 years.

In 1936 she was chosen to represent Austria in the Berlin Olympics but refused to be forced to parade before Hitler or give the Nazi salute. The Austrian Government banned her for life from international sport but the European press took up her story and the Government reduced the penalty to suspension for two years.

When the Nazis took over Austria in 1938 she was arrested. After an "interrogation" at the local police station, the doctor on duty patched her up and allowed her to escape through the back door with the warning that any future displays of defiance and courage would be fatal.

Lucie dyed her hair blonde, gathered up her trophies and wearing a yellow star under her coat, caught the train to Berlin. For Jews, the abandoned German frontier was the only route out. In her carriage were several Gestapo agents, including the assassins of President Dolfuss of Austria and Hitler's personal pilot, who proved to be friendly. He realised she was Jewish. He unclipped his prized gold swastika badge and pinned it on her lapel, saying, "It will get you safely to Berlin."

And so it did. Lucie's passport had a few days to run. She went to the Jewish Sports Association Office in Berlin and handed over her trophies and then, without a British entry permit, caught the plane to London. By chance, she was booked on the Saturday night plane. On any other day of the week, she would have been sent back to Berlin on the return flight. But on a Saturday the plane remained on the tarmac until Monday morning.

With the help of a multilingual air hostess, she told her story to the immigration official, who recalled the story of her refusal to attend the Berlin Olympics. He asked her whether she knew anyone in England who could vouch for her. She recalled the name of a club official from Vienna who now lived in London, and her unknown "sponsor" unhesitatingly supported her.

In London, she worked as a governess and then at the Ministry of Supply. She married Henry Gordian, who was serving in the Free Czech Army in England. After the war, she trekked across Europe with her baby daughter to join her husband, who was now serving in Prague. The family left Czechoslovakia in 1948, after the Soviet invasion, and hitchhiked to Australia on an old World War II DC3 being flown across the world by a couple of adventurous Canadians.

In Melbourne, Lucie Gordian joined the Jewish community's Ajax Swimming Club. She swam at interstate carnivals and then she coached the Victorian team. She was also Honorary Secretary of the Maccabi Council and an executive member of Victorian Bnai Brith.

She enrolled in a chartered accounting course at Prahran Technical College, but her student career was short lived. In 1975 WIZO Victoria advertised for a new Executive Director and Lucy got the job which she held for 20 years, until ill health forced her to retire. Quoting Rabbi John Levi in her eulogy….” She had a gift for leadership. She was very independent, obstinate, hard-working, articulate, charming, intelligent and heroic. She loved opera, theatre and film. She was an optimist and she was fun. “

Lucy passed away in 2000 at the age of 82.