Just for A Change

When the Lake Macquarie swimming champion Bill Walker heard his name called, and he stepped up to receive his award for the Senior Point Score of 1935-6, he might have had a chuckle at being handed this silver-plated teapot trophy.

That fresh winter evening in June 1936, at the Blackalls Park Hall near the banks of Lake Macquarie, local swimming enthusiasts had gathered for the award presentation of the Stoney Creek Amateur Swimming Club (SCASC), where they danced to the upbeat tunes of Merv Jones’ new dance orchestra. Since 1932, Bill had already collected at least twenty-five swimming trophy cups, so the event organisers seem to have selected this teapot for him, just for a change.

William ‘Bill’ Walker (1913-1975) was born in Killingworth, West Wallsend. He was the son of a coal miner, also named William, and a great, great, great grandson of Yarramundi, chief of the Boorooberwongal clan of the Darug nation. When Bill was about six years old his family moved to Bolton Point, on Lake Macquarie’s waterfront. There, Bill attended Toronto Public School and learned to fish and swim.

Bill had a lifelong commitment to the SCASC, having helped establish the club in 1930, and serving as club captain, secretary, and coach at various times. By the late 1940s, Bill Walker had competed and placed at countless swimming carnivals and meets at Stoney Creek, around the Lake Macquarie and Newcastle region, and beyond.

His wins resulted in an impressive lineup of over fifty swimming trophies, which he surely must have treasured. But since Bill had so many trophies on his mantlepiece, did he sometimes use this one to brew his morning cuppa?