evangeline joyce cooper
Community & Voluntary Action, Health & Social Care, Sport
1928 - 2020
Suggested by Hannah May
Hannah says;
“Evangeline Cooper, known as Joyce, was a fiercely proud Cornish woman and leading figure in Cornish swimming. A lifelong swimmer til the age of 91, mostly in the sea, she was deeply involved in the sport as a teacher, examiner, coach and official.
As first female president of Cornish swimming in 1982, she championed women’s participation. This included spearheading leadership roles whilst increasing female participation, and supporting her daughter to become a national champion. Later Joyce supported her five grandchildren to compete at national and international levels whilst maintaining multiple roles to encourage uptake and uphold the standards of Cornish swimming. Joyce helped to teach and train many children and adults and was a lifetime member of Penzance Swimming & Water Polo Club, which she helped to run with her husband, Joe.
She was adamant local facilities should be inclusive: available for all to learn and practice the lifesaving skill of swimming. Her dedication extended to fundraising and volunteering to keep swimming pools open; caretaking and lifeguarding at Penzance’s lido, Jubilee Pool in 1940/50s; lobbying for its repair and reopening in the 2000s; as well as decades of committee roles for the club.
Devoted to family, Joyce spent her final years swimming with her granddaughter, a local swimming teacher and great-granddaughters in the sea and Jubilee Pool. After her death, the family was asked by the Lido to open the geothermal pool in honour of her lifelong relationship with them and local swimming. Gran (Cornish matriarch, feminist, peller) taught me the importance of swimming for safety, mental & physical health and body confidence. She inspired me to become a swimming teacher and maintain the family tradition of helping others to learn and love swimming.“