Sydney, Australia 1938
Held in the southern hemisphere for the first time, the Third British Empire Games took place in Sydney from 5-12th February and marked the 150th anniversary of the founding of the first British Colony in Australia.
The Games Opening Ceremony took place at the famed Sydney Cricket Ground in front of 40,000 spectators who were keen to see Australia and New Zealand excel against England in particular.
Fifteen nations participated down under at the Sydney Games involving a total of 464 athletes and 43 officials. New participants included Fiji and Ceylon.
Seven sports were featured in the Sydney Games:
- Aquatics (swimming & diving)
- Athletics
- Boxing
- Cycling
- Lawn Bowls
- Rowing
- Wrestling
A significant change in the Swimming events was the increase pool length from 50 to 55 yards.
This time it was competitors from the northern hemisphere who were at a disadvantage since in their own countries it was the 'off-season' for most sports. I addition there was also the problem of keeping fit during the long sea journey to Australia. Nevertheless the standard of competition was generally very high, particularly in athletics. In the men's and women's track events, all but one of the existing Games records were broken and there is no doubt that this achievement was partly due to the magnificent condition of the grass running track used for the Sydney Games.
There was a record crowd of around forty thousand at the opening ceremony and the enthusiasm of the local populace was further increased by the sensational performances of the Australian women sprinter, Decima Norman, who was the outstanding competitor at the Games. Norman won the remarkable total of five Gold medals by means of victories in the 100 yards, 220 yards, Long Jump and two sprint relays.
Another interesting feature at Sydney was the victory of the English swimmer, John G Davies, in the 220 yards Breaststroke event. David broke the existing record in this competition by using what was later to become known as the Butterfly stroke. At the time it was merely regarded as a legitimate variation of the Breaststroke with the result that the record established by Davies in this event was to stand until 1958.
During the course of the Sydney event a meeting of the British Empire Games Federation was held which awarded the 1942 Games to Montreal. They were of course never to take place due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
A much smaller Scottish contingent than usual undertook the long journey to Sydney and inevitably the result was that Scots competitors won far fewer medals. Even with this factor taken into account, there is no double that from a Scottish viewpoint the 1938 Games were a disappointment since only two Silver and Three bronze medals were won by Scots.