Fred's Story
Fred's Sporting Prowess
Water Polo : A Sport That Shaped a Life
Water polo was not simply Fred Mayer's sport — it was the thread running through his entire life, connecting him to friends, cities, and communities across five decades and four continents.
Starting Out — Johannesburg (late 1940s)
Fred took up water polo at the Ellis Park Johannesburg Municipal Swimming and Water Polo Club, where he met South African internationals Jerry Goddard (also an ace cricketer) and Pillemer. He started in second grade, was bumped back to fourth — having never played before — and worked his way up to first grade within two years.
Bondi (1950s)
When Fred arrived in Sydney in June 1950, he immediately joined the Bondi Swimming Club and North Bondi Surf Club. Within a season, he was playing water polo with some of the finest players in the country.
Playing for Bronte
After joining Bronte at Doug Laing's urging — with Momi Vadas as player-captain-coach — Fred made an unforgettable debut in his club's first first-grade game against the unbeaten Bondi side. He scored all four goals. Two went in Bondi's net. Two went in his own.
Water Polo Around the World
East Sydney–Drummoyne
New Zealand Tours
The Last First-Grade Games — Age 65
Ocean Races
Surf Lifesaving & Ocean Swimming
50 Years of Water Polo
A Water Polo Friendship
One of the most enduring relationships forged through water polo began at a training session at the Sydney University pool, when Fred was playing second grade for the University Club. A young player and student, George Venardos, approached him politely and asked whether Fred could give him a part-time job to help fund his studies.
Fred not only employed George, but at various times also brought on his brothers Jim and Paul. What started as a chance poolside conversation grew into a lasting friendship that crossed the lines between sport, work, and family. The Venardos brothers, along with Fred, Robi, and Sami, became close friends despite the differences in their ages — and at one stage, they all played on the same water polo team together.
George later married Robin, and when the time came for their wedding, they chose Fred's boat *Phantom* as the venue. Around forty guests gathered on board to witness the ceremony — and Fred served as best man.
Fred toured New Zealand with the "Clovelly Devils" — eight players, one of whom was injured early (Tubby Ward, later GM of QANTAS). The team went unbeaten through Auckland, Hamilton, Mata-Mata, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch, and the South Island.
He later returned as coach and player of the Queensland Barbarians on a second NZ tour. In Christchurch, he missed a penalty. His sons were delighted.
The 1988 FINA World Championship Gold Medal
At the Brisbane Masters World Championship Water Polo Games in 1988, Fred won a FINA World Championship gold medal — at 60 years of age. His team included Charles Turner (35), Peter Montgomery (38), Johnny Harrison, Jeff Winterton, Paul Wettin, and Howard Roby.
He returned to the Brisbane Masters Games for the over-65 competition, reaching the semi-finals before being beaten by a Russian-Kazakh team.
Playing for East Sydney–Drummoyne, Fred shared a pool with Mirko Sandic — a Yugoslav Olympic player and, at 2.10 metres tall, a force unlike anything Australian water polo had seen. Mirko had scored seven goals against Mickey Withers (the Balmain and Olympic goalkeeper) in the previous Olympics. With Mirko alongside him, Fred's team defeated the unbeaten Bronte for the first time that season.
Fred describes playing his best-ever water polo at age 39, in this era, next to Mirko Sandic. At Mexico City 1968, Mirko was proclaimed the world's best player when Yugoslavia won gold. Fred's assessment: "the world's best player ever."
Mirko later coached the NSW State side, and stayed at Fred's home during that time.
Fred's greatest gift from water polo was the ability to walk into any city as a stranger and leave with friends.
Oslo, 1956 — Fred turned up alone at an Oslo pool at 6pm with no contacts in the city. Within an hour he was playing with the Norwegian national team, including Olaf — two metres tall, national goalkeeper, police lieutenant. He spent the following days driving to the fjords with people he would never have met otherwise.
Copenhagen — After taking a black eye in a game, his new teammates drove him to hospital. The sport created immediate community.
Lisbon, 1956 — Fred played against Fernando Madeira, who had swum for Portugal at the Helsinki Olympics. When Spanish swimmers visited Lisbon, Madeira would take them all on alone — every stroke, every distance. Fred competed with him, winning 4–3 in water polo (with two accidental own goals, a recurring theme).
Chris Wybrow tracked Fred down when the University club needed players. Fred and Howard Roby filled in against Balmain. They won.
Fred joined North Bondi Surf Club upon arriving in Sydney in 1950 and became a surf lifesaver. In 1952 he was featured on the front cover of PIX magazine — with a three-to-four page article — as **"Australia's First New Australian Lifesaver"**: the first post-war immigrant to earn the badge.
In 1997, 150 friends and water polo players gathered for a surprise party at North Bondi Surf Club to mark the 50th anniversary of Fred playing water polo. Players came from the 1950–56 Bondi teams, the 1957 East Sydney–Drummoyne side, and the current University club.
At the time the memoir was written in 1998, Fred was still playing fifth and sixth grade alongside his sons Robi and Sami, and Howard Roby.
Fred swam the **Cole's Classics** across-the-bay surf club event for years, winning it twice and finishing a proud second in the over-65 category.
He also completed the **Bronte Biathlon** — a long ocean swim followed by a 15km run — and received the trophy as winner of the over-50 age group. He was the only finisher in that category.
He continued to swim the Sunday Handicap surf races at North Bondi Surf Club into his late 60s.
Fred's memoir returns again and again to what sport gave him beyond competition: friendship across borders, cultures, and languages. From the Hungarian water polo players who risked danger to visit his family in the war years, to the Oslo police lieutenant he played with as a total stranger, to the 150 friends who turned up at North Bondi in 1997 to celebrate 50 years of the game — sport was Fred Mayer's way of belonging everywhere he went.
"Through water polo, I have established many long-lasting relationships. The sport has served me well."
*Source: "Everyone's A Mate" by Fred Mayer (1998, 2nd printing 2008). All material drawn directly from Fred Mayer's memoir.*
A Sporting Philosophy
