Ivan's Story
1895 - 1977
Prior to his first Olympic Games at Antwerp 1920, Ivan Stedman had been wounded in Belgium during World War I. In France, during the conflict, he used his aquatic skills to rescue a fellow soldier who was in difficulty whilst swimming.
After the cessation of hostilities, he participated in the Inter-Allied Games in Paris in 1919. At Antwerp, Stedman competed in the 100 metres freestyle, where he made the semi-finals, the 200 metres breastroke, finishing fifth, and the 4 x 200 metres relay. In the relay, he joined with Frank Beaurepaire, Harry Hay and Bill Herald to claim the silver medal behind the ever-powerful Americans. The youngster of the swimming team, Keith Kirkland, swam in the heat of the relay but was replaced by Beaurepaire for the final.
Stedman attended Paris 1924 where he was eliminated in the preliminarily rounds of the 100 metres freestyle and 200 metres breaststroke and swam in the heat and semi-final of the relay. He was still swimming after World War II and in 1952 won a long-distance event on the Yarra River.
