Claes Annerstedt1 & Marie Annerstedt2
1 Department of Food and Nutrition, and Sport Science, University of Gothenburg;
2 GU Ventures, affiliated to the University of Gothenburg
This article examines the accomplishments of Swedish long-distance swimmer Sally Bauer. Its primary aim is to document Bauer’s achievements, contextualize them within their historical framework, and analyze, through a theoretical lens on heroism, the reasons her contributions have not garnered the recognition they merit.
The study utilizes a diverse range of source materials, including press coverage from Idrottsbladet, Dagens Nyheter, Sydsvenska Dagbladet, and Göteborgs-Posten, Bauer’s autobiography, and four radio interviews with Bauer.
Within the male-dominated realm of long-distance swimming during the 1930s and 1940s, Bauer’s accomplishments disrupted entrenched stereotypes of women as fragile and passive. She broke barriers and redefined societal perceptions of female athletes and their capabilities. However, despite her extraordinary achievements, Bauer was never fully acknowledged as a national icon or Swedish heroine. Societal biases of the time overshadowed her groundbreaking contributions, denying her the recognition she rightly deserved.
Click to access this peer review article in Scandinavian Sport Studies Forum, Vol. 16, 2025
CLAES ANNERSTEDT is a Professor Emeritus in Sport Science at the University of Gothenburg. He has previously served, among other roles, as Head of Department and Professor at the Department of Food and Nutrition, and Sport Science at the University of Gothenburg, as well as Professor of Physical Education and Pedagogy at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in Oslo. He has also been affiliated with Kalmar University, Malmö University, and Örebro University, held a postdoctoral position at the University of Queensland in Australia, and worked as Professor II at the NIH in Oslo. For 15 years, Annerstedt was the editor of Tidskrift i Gymnastik & Idrott and, in addition to research literature, has published a large number of textbooks for lower secondary school, upper secondary school, and higher education.
MARIE ANNERSTEDT is a medical doctor and has served as a medical expert at GU Ventures. GU Ventures is a company that specializes in commercializing research results by offering capital and business expertise to projects and companies associated with the University of Gothenburg. Her research interests include, in addition to medicine, equality issues and the history of women’s sports.
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