Manly Beach
Golden ocean beach backed by a palm-lined promenade, long beloved for surfing and daylight swimming.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Manly Beach in Sydney turns on William Gocher, a local newspaper editor who waded into the surf here at noon in October 1902, defying a law that banned daylight swimming while police watched to stop him. For more than a century the beach told this as the moment daylight surf bathing began, and plaques and anniversary swims still mark his defiance. You'll hear about the twice-nothing, third-time confrontation between Gocher and the officers who finally marched him out. Best heard standing on the sand, facing the water he waded into.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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