In this paper, the biographical sporting narratives produced about a selection of New
Zealand’s most successful women swimmers are interrogated and analyzed. It is argued
that biographical narratives, ironically, pay insufficient attention to the complexity and
fluidity of ‘character’. As such, it is suggested that the interrogation of fictional characters
is a useful way of exploring the cultural conditions of possibility which shape the
(re)production of sporting heroines. To this end, the narrative of a fictional swimmer,
Alex, is compared and contrasted to the biographical sports narratives of New Zealand
women swimmers, and the untapped political possibilities of a fictional sports heroine are
discussed.