Tucked away in a green leafy oasis in a corner of Moore Park near the Sydney Cricket Ground is an impressive fountain featuring the sculpture of a woman athlete. It is in the middle of a large pond known as Lake Kippax. It has seen its fair share of controversy over the years.

Fountain & Sculpture
The fountain and sculpture recognise the achievements of Australian sportswomen. The sculpture portrays a female athlete and is constructed in metal on a concrete base. In November 1964 the Sydney City Council approved a public competition, with conditions laid down by the Sydney Fountains Committee, to obtain a design for a figurine to recognise the achievements of Australian sportswomen over the years.

Fountain in the centre of Lake Kippax, Moore Park, Sydney

The five male adjudicators selected a design submitted by Stephen Walker. The winning design proved to be controversial: it was claimed that it had simply been cut off an existing larger sculpture, and a public poll conducted by the Council found that it rated poorly and that a design by Diana Hunt was much more popular. The Council decided to overturn the committee’s decision and erected a work by Diana Hunt instead in 1967.

Location
The water body was named Lake Kippax in 1888 in honour of William Kippax (1863-1889), a former Sydney City alderman and grandfather of the test cricketer Alan Kippax. Before that is was known as Nanny Goat Swamp. The original swamp was converted into a pond and lined with concrete so that the water would not drain away. Hard-paved edges were added so that people can walk along the edges.

In the early part of the 20th century, public complaints about the state of the lake regularly appeared in the press. In 1909, for instance, the City Council was investigating how it could seal the concreted bottom of the Lake to prevent seepage. Though relatively shallow, it has been the site of drownings over the decades. The area around the lake is still notoriously damp and if you wander in the parklands around it, you are likely to find your feet squelching in the muddy ground. Around 2001, the area was used as a venue for an Indie music festival, but was abandoned after that in favour of other locations because the grounds were so wet, leaving attendees wallowing in knee-deep mud.

At the end of the First World War, the lake became a popular venue for model yachting, a practice that continued until the early 1980s.

Kippax Lake provides a habitat for aquatic birds. Commonly sighted birds include Black Swan, Hardhead, Pacific Black Duck, Australasian Grebe, Eurasian Coot, and Ibis. A nesting pontoon for Black swans was installed in Kippax Lake in Dec 2015.

Statue
The statue is of a slim, elegantly poised woman is known affectionately as ‘The Lady of the Lake’. She stands in the middle of the Lake. Not a romantic or fey figure, instead she represents athletic strength and symbolises all Australian female athletes. The sculpture was commissioned with the purpose of celebrating the achievements of Australian sportswomen over the years. There was a lot to celebrate at the time. Just a few years earlier at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Australian swimmer, Dawn Fraser won her third successive 100m freestyle gold, the first swimmer to achieve a rare treble. Appropriately enough, Dianna Hunt's statue should be set in water. The sculpture is constructed in metal on a concrete base. The two overlapping beams at the base that form a large cross are water jets. It was designed to have a water stream shooting out of each one.

The sculpture represents no particular person and is tucked away in a part of Moore Park less visited by pedestrians. It is in stark contrast with the recognisable, over-scaled bronzes of the male stars of Australian Rules Football, rugby and cricket that line the entrance to the football ground opposite, and the grandiose monumental memorial footbridge over Anzac Park in honour of cricketer Tibby Cotter (1883 - 1917).

A bronze plaque on a sandstone base next to Lake Kippax states:

“Fountain and sculpture was erected by the Council of the City of Sydney in recognition of the achievements of Australian Sportswomen. Design and Sculpture by Diana Hunt. 28th October 1967. J H Luscombe Town Clerk. Ald John Armstrong, Lord Mayor”.

Diana Hunt Diana Hunt (1905-2004) was a long-standing member of the Sculptors’ Society, and created some important public works, including in Macquarie University grounds and Wahroonga Park. She served on the Society’s committee in the 1990s. Her abstract sculpture of Don Quixote in Wahroonga Park was opened by Sir Robert Menzies in 1970.

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