Chapter 6: The 1956 Olympic Games

In July 1956 with the Melbourne Olympic Games less than four months away, Alf Lorbach stepped up both the training of his women's gymnastics squad and his correspondence to international colleagues, in an attempt to source information about the voluntary routines that were to be performed at the Games.

With information about the Olympic compulsory routines having now been received, members of AIf's squad put all energies into learning and practicing these routines. Meanwhile Alf was facing huge difficulty in procuring information about the requirements of the voluntary routines which were also to be performed by each team member.

A series of correspondence between Alf and his international colleagues, dated from July to September 1956 provides a great insight into the difficulties he faced in getting this important information. The correspondence also provides a candid account of the training of Alf's squad and their preparations in the lead up to the Games.

If the Australian women were to take part as a team at the Games, they would also be expected to perform in the freestanding team event, in addition to performing both set and voluntary exercises. There was much to learn and so little time before the Games. The freestanding exercise involved the team of six women, performing as a group, with small hand apparatus such as clubs, balls or hoops.

In July 1956, Alf wrote to one of his colleagues in Germany in the hope of receiving updated information on both the freestanding and voluntary exercises. In return Alf received news that the German Federation would not be sending a women's gymnastics team to the 1956 Olympic Games and that information on the voluntary exercises was difficult to obtain.

Nelleck did the same, writing to her former club colleagues and requested a copy of the set routines from the Dutch Gymnastics Federation. Alf and Nelleck spent many hours going over the materials, translating them from Dutch to French and finally English.

Around the same time, a group of women from New South Wales traveled to Melbourne where they put on displays and trained with members of Alf's squad. Alf recalls that the members of his own Society outclassed the visitors to such an extent that it was decided that only one of the NSW visitors had the potential of meeting the Olympic standard required by the team.

In a subsequent letter to his German colleague, Alf advised that the Australian team would not be strong but he believed that it was in the best interests of the Games and the development of the sport, for Australia to be represented by female gymnasts at the 1956 Olympic Games.

He went on to state that "at the moment, we are training 12 hours a week and I only have four (out of his 8 gymnasts) that can do the set exercises. From next week however we are starting on extensive training for two months for which they will do 6 hours a day, and for the last month this will be extended up to 8 hours".

By mid 1956, the Australian Gymnastic Union (AAGU) had finally accepted the Society as being an affiliated member of the Victorian Amateur Gymnastic Association (VAGA) and Alf as the appointed coach of the women's gymnastics team. Alf now sought the support of the AAGU in entering a team of six women gymnasts to the Games.

In correspondence to his German colleague, AIf describes that the task of forming a team of six gymnasts, would be a tall order, however one which he believed was in the best interests of the sport.

By September 1956, Alf had provided an update to his German colleague and conceded that in a test carried out in early September; only five of his Victorian girls could successfully complete all of the necessary set exercises. The New South Wales gymnasts, who also trialed for the team were simply not of the required standard and could not be considered for places in the team. As there was now not six women who could successfully complete the four set exercises, the notion of forming a team for the 1956 Olympics had to be abandoned.

Further setbacks were incurred, when one of AIf's gymnasts, Nelleck Jol, could not be naturalised as an Australian citizen in time for the Games and therefore would be ineligible to compete for Australia . Even though Harold Holt had personally assured Nelleck that she would be eligible for the Games, under pressure from the public, he was forced to implement a five year residency rule. Even though Nelleck had been in Australia for 4 and ½ years, no leniency was granted. This left the team both saddened and somewhat deflated as Nelleck was considered to be a fine gymnast and a key member of the squad. Nelleck returned to Western Australia , leaving only four remaining members in Alf's squad.

The final blow came, when Val Roberts, who was also a member of Alf's squad, withdrew due to an inability to get sufficient time off from her first year university studies, to commit to AIf's increased training schedule. With both Nelleck and Val removing themselves from the squad, Alf was now left with three members of his original squad — Barbara Cunningham, Inge Fraser and Wendy Nicholls. Alf quickly set about selecting the three girls as individuals and entering them to the Games as such, rather than a team, as he had first hoped.

With Val unable to compete, it was Alf's plan to have her accredited as the Australian women's gymnastics captain, to accompany the individuals to the Games. Alf was well aware that no male coaches were allowed on the competition floor during the women's competition and believed that Val would be a suitable person to fill this role.

The three remaining individuals, Barbara, Inge and Wendy, were now practicing five hours a day, half of this time spent with Alf and the other half spent on their own. With time running out, Alf also planned a training camp in

New South Wales in mid October, to take the three gymnasts away from their home environment so they could concentrate on more intense training under his direct supervision.

With all plans for the formation of an historic women's gymnastics team now dashed, Alf and his three individual gymnasts devoted their time to perfecting the challenging set exercises and learning voluntary exercises in time for the Games.

Final preparations and acceptance as part of the official Australian Olympic Team would prove to be yet another obstacle to overcome.