More than 30 years ago, on the 18th June 1994, 30 athletes from Auckland were in New York for the Gay Games IV. With its theme of ‘Unity’, the Gay Games were timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the modern start of the LGBT movement in the United States. They were bigger than the Olympics in terms of numbers with 10,864 athletes participating.

Team Auckland was a group of runners, bodybuilders, bowlers, and swimmers. The swimmers, who made up nearly half of the team, came from Team Auckland Masters Swimmers (TEMS), a group established by Ron Judd and others at the Tepid Baths in 1992.

A desire to have a team uniform for the Games led Ron to approach designer Doris de Pont to create one. She asked Adrienne Foote (Footeprints) to modify one of her fabric designs (Nuclear Free) for the vest panels changing the pairings of the figures and replacing Nuclear Free with ‘Team Auckland’. The vests and shorts were individually fitted and made in Auckland.

One of the team, swimmer Cynthia Borne, kept hers. “The first team uniform of 1994 has been the most revered. Everyone loved it, the waistcoat design, the fabric and the fabric design. It was very popular as an exchange item with overseas sports people. I never parted with mine because I knew it was special. We haven’t had a uniform like it since.”

The NZFM photographed this vest at our Popup photography session in October 2024 which was part of our Hui Auaha o Aotearoa Open Day, and we thank Cynthia for sharing this garment, photographs and story with us.