The Nimble Savage: Press Constructions of Pacific Islander Swimmers in Early Twentieth-Century Australia

Abstract

In the decades around Australian Federation in 1901, a number of Pacific Islanders gained prominence in aquatic sport on the beaches and in the pools of Sydney in particular. Two swimmers, brothers Alick and Edward (Ted) Wickham from the Solomon Islands, were especially prominent. This article examines racial constructions of these athletes by the Australian press. Given the existence of well-entrenched negative racial stereotypes about Pacific Islanders, and legislative manifestations of the White Australia policy that sought to deport and exclude Islanders, racially negative portrayals of the Wickhams might have been expected in the press. Instead, newspapers constructed these men in largely positive terms, idealising the supposedly natural ability of Islanders in water and reifying an aquatic Nimble Savage stereotype. While largely contained to a few individuals, this nonetheless powerful press construction presented an alternative perspective to the prevailing negative stereotypes.