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National Monument to Migration
Swimming south
Canadian migration wins medals for Australia
Canadians have played a small but significant part in Australia’s migration story. While many young Australians now spend time living, working and partying in Canada, some Canadians have chosen to call Australia home. Casandra Taucki and Sandra Funnell tell the story of a family who found their niche in Australia’s competitive swimming scene.
THE FIRST CANADIAN TO ARRIVE IN AUSTRALIA is believed to have been Montreal-born Lieutenant Edward Abbott, who landed in Sydney in 1790 as part of the New South Wales Corps. Other Canadians followed, on whaling ships or as convicts, with some 137 transported for their participation in the 1837 Canadian rebellions against the British. The 1850s gold rushes brought men seeking their fortunes. Mainly from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, they included Charles Ross, who designed the 1854 Eureka Flag and who was killed during the police attack on the stockade.
Small numbers of Canadian migrants continued to arrive in the Australian colonies: by 1861 their number had reached 6,000. Twenty years later, the number had grown to almost 18,000. Today, however, not many Australian residents hail from Canada, but among those who do are the Fowlie family. In 1992, the Fowlies moved from Canada at the invitation of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra. Swimming coach, Jim, and his wife Lynn would eventually settle here with their young family. When aged 18, Jim won a bronze medal while representing Canada at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand. That same year, he set the world short-course record for the 400 metres Individual Medley. He was introduced to Australian Don Talbot, who was a national team coach for Canada at the time. Don would have a huge impact on Jim’s life in years to come.
Lynn’s connection with competitive swimming was through her Swedish father Torsten (Tor) Bengtson who, as a young man in the 1950s, had travelled to San Francisco and then hitchhiked to Vancouver to join the University of British Columbia swim team. It was there that Tor met and married Canadian Sussie Kleparchuh, Lynn’s mother. Jim and Lynn met in the early 1970s when both were competitive swimmers representing British Columbia. Jim came from Prince George, in the centre of the province, while Lynn’s home was the city of Vancouver. Jim had moved there to train with the Canadian Dolphins, which was also Lynn’s team. They soon started dating and married in 1976.
Jim Fowlie with Australian gold medallists at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, Todd Pearson (left) and Bill Kirby (right). Image Jim Fowlie
Eventually, they moved to Toronto, where they lived for five years. In 1990, they decided to return to Vancouver to be closer to family. Jim thought: Oh, this is great! I’m the Head Coach of the Vancouver Pacific Swim Club, I’m back in Vancouver, I don’t want to go anywhere … and then Don Talbot phoned from Australia. Since their first meeting in 1973, Jim and Don’s paths had often crossed, although they had never worked together. By the early 1990s, as National Head Coach of Swimming Australia, Don was on the look-out for coaches of highperformance swimming. Don offered Jim a position at the AIS, an offer that was too good to ignore.
To Australia and a new life
With three children, luggage, their sons’ ice hockey equipment and a surfboard picked up in Hawaii on the way, the family landed in Canberra in August 1992. That year there were 67,900 migrants arriving in Australia, the majority, like the Fowlies, under the Skilled Migration Program. However, migration from Canada was unusual and has remained small. It didn’t take too long for Lynn to find work at a local pool. Within a year, when the head coach left, Lynn took up the full-time position and soon resumed her interest in elite sport. In Canada, she had been a member of the National Swim Team and in 2000 she was selected for the Australian Olympic Team staff, a lifelong dream come true. As she said, ‘It was an such an honour to be on the Australian Team for a hometown Games’.
In all, Lynn would be involved in five Olympic Games – one representing Canada and four representing her adopted country, Australia. Jim’s career continued to flourish, and in 1996 he was selected as a coach for the Atlanta Olympics, when he trained silver medalist Sarah Ryan and bronze medalist Scott Goodman. In 2000, Jim had three swimmers on the Australian team who all won gold medals at the Sydney Olympics: Adam Pine, Todd Pearson and Bill Kirby. The Fowlies considered Australian swimmers to be hardworking and talented and, like Don Talbot, believed they could become No. 1 in the world. With Sydney hosting the 2000 Olympic Games, that goal seemed increasingly possible.
Jim and Lynn Fowlie enjoy their welcome to Australia with Don Talbot (centre). Image Jim Fowlie
Although the Fowlies initially missed some things – notably ‘licorice and fancy chocolate bars’ – they regularly return to Canada to see family, who also visit them in Australia.
Just two years after they arrived in Australia, the Fowlie family became eligible for citizenship and they did not hesitate. As Lynn said: We’ve been very honoured by our adopted country and feel very privileged that we’ve had the opportunity to represent Australia. I’m also proud of our contribution to Australian society. Lynn and Jim’s eldest son, John, followed his parents into coaching and, in 2005, was selected for the Australian Swim Team for the World Championships, where he coached Jade Edmistone to gold, and a world record, in the 50-metre breaststroke. John was named Australian Coach of the Year in 2010 after Alicia Coutts won five gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, and again in 2012 after the London Olympics, where she won gold, bronze and three silver medals. Lynn was there and describes it as an ‘awesome’ experience. Jim and Lynn are now retired from high-performance coaching and administration, although Jim remains involved in swimming as Head Coach of the Canberra International Sports and Aquatic Centre. Lynn recently finished working for Swimming Australia, having been there for eight years. It’s a hard sport this one, you know – it’s not just the athlete who has to be dedicated, it’s the whole family, getting up at 4.30 in the morning to go to the pool, six days a week. It’s a family commitment – I always marvel at our swim families ... Now I’m just looking at the community and seeing what the next project might be. In 2009, daughter Carrie arranged – as a gift to her parents and brothers – for the Fowlie family to be added to the Welcome Wall at the Australian National Maritime Museum. Carrie suggested they all attend the unveiling ceremony at the wall, which is now known as Australia’s National Monument to Migration. Their youngest son Jimmy was unable to be there, so they had a photo of him enlarged and mounted on a stick so he was present in the family group photo!
Casandra Traucki is a museum Volunteer. This article is based on an interview with the Fowlies conducted by fellow Volunteer, Sandra Funnell
