| Winifred Lawrence | |
| Birth Name: | Winifred Tweedie Dunn |
| Birth Date: | 6 January 1920 |
| Birth Place: | Dunedin, New Zealand |
| Death Place: | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Country: | New Zealand |
| Sport: | Swimming |
| Nationals: | 100 yards breaststroke champion (1939, 1940, 1941) 220 yds breaststroke champion (1938, 1939, 1940, 1941) |
| Pb: | 100 m breaststroke – 1:31.4 |
Winifred Tweedie Lawrence (née Dunn; 6 January 1920 − 22 December 2006) was a New Zealand breaststroke swimmer, who, as Winnie Dunn, represented her country at the 1938 British Empire Games.
Born in Dunedin on 6 January 1920, Lawrence was the youngest daughter of Edward Hanratty Dunn and Ellen Clarke Dunn (née Ferguson).[1] [2] She was educated at King Edward Technical High School.[3] On 30 January 1946, she married Clynton John Christie Lawrence in Dunedin.[4] [5]
Dunn first came to national attention in 1935, when she broke the New Zealand 100 metres breaststroke record, previously held by Gladys Pidgeon, with a time of 1:39.6.[6] The record was later broken by Judith Webster of Auckland, but Dunn regained the record in December 1937 with a time of 1:33.0.[7] She also broke the national 220 yard breaststroke record, swimming 3:22.6, and was subsequently selected to represent New Zealand in the 220 yards breaststroke at the 1938 British Empire Games in Sydney.[8] [9] [10] She went on to finish seventh in that event.[11] She was also a member of the New Zealand 3 x 110 yard medley relay team at the Sydney games, alongside Mona Leydon and Joyce Macdonald, that finished in fifth place with a time of 4:22.3.[12]
Dunn was the New Zealand 220 yards breaststroke champion every year from 1938 to 1941, and the 100 yards breastroke champion from 1939 to 1941.[13]
In 1939, Dunn broke the New Zealand 400 metres breaststroke record by 45.2 seconds, recording a time of 7 minutes 11 seconds.[14] She also held the New Zealand 100 metres breaststroke record, with a time of 1:31.4, for 14 years, until it was broken by Rae Currie in 1954.[15]
As Winifred Lawrence, she became a well-known swimming coach in Auckland over many decades, retiring in 2002.
In the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours, Lawrence was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to swimming.[16] In 2001 she was made a life member of the Auckland Swimming Association.[17]
Lawrence was widowed by the death of her husband in 2001.[18] She died on 22 December 2006, and her ashes were buried in Waikumete Cemetery.[19]