Career
A student at Fort Street High School in Sydney, Kennedy was a versatile athlete in the late 1920s and 1930s, successful in swimming, diving, vigoro, hockey, tennis and basketball. Her time of 12.2 for 80 metres hurdles in 1930 broke the world record but her performance was not ratified which greatly disappointed Kennedy. In the same year, Kennedy saved the life of a drowning boy.
Her omission caused an outrage with questions even asked in parliament.
At the age of 59, Kennedy enrolled at University and went on to complete a Masters of Science degree with honours before completing a Doctor of Philosophy. She had completed the first year of her Bachelor of Divinity when she died of cancer in 1998.