Watermarks * Documentary Film and Discussion * Tuesday, March 10th 6:00pm

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"Watermarks" is the story of the champion women swimmers of the legendary Jewish sports club, Hakoah Vienna. Hakoah ("The Strength" in Hebrew) was founded in 1909 in response to the notorious Aryan Paragraph, which forbade Austrian sports clubs from accepting Jewish athletes.

Join us for the documentary that tells of their journeys:

"Watermarks"
Tuesday, March 10th 6:00pm
Arctic Java in the UAF Wood Center

In the 1930s Hakoah's best-known triumphs came from its women swimmers who dominated national competitions in Austria. When they refused to represent Austria in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, they were stripped of their medals. After the Anschluss, in 1938, the Nazis shut down the club but the swimmers all managed to flee the country just before the war broke out thanks to a Hakoah escape operation.

Now, Sixty-five years later, director Yaron Zilberman meets the members of the swimming team in their homes around the world and arranges for them to have a reunion in their old swimming pool in Vienna. 

The journey evokes memories of youth and femininity as well as strengthening lifelong bonds. The documentary is told by the swimmers, now in their eighties, it's a story about a group of young girls with a passion to be the best. It is the saga of seven outstanding athletes who still swim daily as they age with grace. Above all, it is a celebration of life.