Lyn McClements

Last updated

Lyn McClements
Personal information
Full nameLynette Velma McClements
Nickname"Lyn"
National teamAustralia
Born (1951-05-11) 11 May 1951 (age 73)
Nedlands, Western Australia
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight66 kg (146 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Butterfly
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing Australia
Olympic Games
Olympic rings.svg
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1968 Mexico City 100 m butterfly
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1968 Mexico City 4×100 m medley

Lynette Velma McClements (born 11 May 1951), also known by her married name Lyn McKenzie, is an Australian butterfly swimmer of the 1960s and 1970s who won a gold medal in the 100-metre butterfly at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

Contents

Coming from Perth, Western Australia, McClements was an asthmatic, who took up swimming to relieve her ailment. Originally concentrating on the freestyle and backstroke, she switched to butterfly in the mid-1960s. Only a year before the Olympics, McClements was almost ready to retire from competitive swimming, when her uncle Les McClements, a professional Australian rules football player convinced her otherwise. [1]

In 1968, she claimed her first Australian title in the 100-metre butterfly, earning selection for the Mexico City Olympics, where she was considered an outsider for the event.

In the 4×100-metre medley relay, she combined with Lynne Watson, Judy Playfair and Janet Steinbeck to claim silver behind the United States team. McClements had put Australia in the lead during the butterfly leg, but Steinbeck was overhauled by Susan Pedersen in the anchor freestyle leg. McClements was said to be lacking confidence prior to the 100-metre butterfly, until the men's captain Michael Wenden pulled her aside in an attempt to coax her into believing that she could win. She relegated the American pair of Ellie Daniel and Susan Shields into the minor medals and world record-holder Ada Kok to fourth, posting a time of 1 minute 5.5 seconds. She later missed the final of the 200-metre butterfly.

In 1969, McClements won both the 100-metre and 200-metre butterfly titles at the Australian Championships. However, the following year, she was disqualified after being deemed to be using an illegal stroke. After being overlooked for selection for the 1970 Commonwealth Games, she retired.

Her daughter, Jacqueline McKenzie, represented Australia at the 1992 Summer Olympics in the 200-metre and 400-metre individual medley.

Honours

In 1991 McClements was inducted into Sport of Australia's Hall of Fame, and in 2008 to the Swimming WA's Hall of Fame. [1]

In 2018 she was the second inductee into Swimming WA's Hall of Legends, recognising "outstanding swimming performances at an international level... deemed to have inspired the nation and to have established the name of the athlete, their State and their country on the world stage." [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

Matthew Nicholas Biondi is an American former competitive swimmer and water polo player. As a swimmer, he is an eleven-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in five events. Biondi competed in the Summer Olympic Games in 1984, 1988 and 1992, winning a total of eleven medals. During his career, he set three individual world records in the 50-meter freestyle and four in the 100-meter freestyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Gould</span> Australian swimmer (born 1956)

Shane Elizabeth Gould is an Australian former competition swimmer. She won three gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze, at the 1972 Summer Olympics, becoming the first woman swimmer to win five individual medals. In 2018, she won the fifth season of Australian Survivor, becoming the oldest winner of any Survivor franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Libby Trickett</span> Australian swimmer (born 1985)

Lisbeth Constance Trickett, is an Australian retired competitive swimmer. She was a gold medallist at the 2004, 2008, and the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was the world record holder in the short-course (25m) 100-metre freestyle.

Petria Ann Thomas, is an Australian swimmer and Olympic gold medallist and a winner of 15 national titles. She was born in Lismore, New South Wales, and grew up in the nearby town of Mullumbimby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracy Caulkins</span> American swimmer (born 1963)

Tracy Anne Stockwell, OAM,, née Tracy Anne Caulkins, is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic gold medalist, five-time world champion, and former world record-holder in three events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hayley Lewis</span> Australian swimmer (born 1974)

Hayley Jane Lewis, OAM, is an Australian former competitive swimmer best known for winning five gold medals and one bronze medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games as a 15-year-old.

Janet May Steinbeck, also known by her married name Janet Murray, was an Australian competitive swimmer of the 1960s who raced internationally in the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, winning two silver medals as a member of Australian relay teams. Steinbeck was primarily a freestyle swimmer.

Lynnette Pamela Watson, known after marriage as Lynne Bates, is an Australian backstroke swimmer of the 1960s, who won a silver medal in the 4×100-metre medley relay at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, narrowly missing two more medals.

Gail Neall, also known by her married name Gail Yeo, is an Australian former medley swimmer who raced in the 1970s. She won a gold medal in the 400-metre individual medley at the 1972 Summer Olympics in world record time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa Belote</span> American swimmer (born 1956)

Melissa Louise Belote, also known by her current married name Melissa Belote Ripley, is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events. She represented the United States at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaye Hall</span> American swimmer (born 1951)

Kaye Marie Hall, later known by her married name Kaye Greff, is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Seebohm</span> Australian swimmer (born 1992)

Emily Jane Seebohm, OAM is an Australian swimmer and television personality. She has appeared at four Olympic Games between 2008 and 2021; and won three Olympic gold medals, five world championship gold medals and seven Commonwealth Games gold medals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolyn Schuler</span> American swimmer (1943–2024)

Carolyn Jane Schuler, also known by her married name Carolyn Schuler Jones, was an American competition swimmer, a 1960 Rome Olympic gold medalist in both the 100-meter butterfly and the 4x100-meter medley, and a one-time world record-holder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellie Daniel</span> American swimmer (born 1950)

Eleanor Suzanne Daniel, is an American former competition swimmer, four-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cynthia Woodhead</span> American swimmer (born 1964)

Cynthia Lee Woodhead, commonly known by her family nickname "Sippy", is an American former competition swimmer, world champion, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. She won three gold medals at the 1978 World Championships, when she was only 14 years old, and set seven world records during her career.

Rachel Komisarz, also known by her married name Rachel Komisarz-Baugh, is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, world record-holder and collegiate swimming coach.

Susan Estelle Sloan, later known by her married name Susan Kelsey, is a former Canadian competitive swimmer. Sloan won a bronze medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, by swimming the butterfly leg for the third-place Canadian team in the women's 4x100-metre medley relay, together with teammates Wendy Hogg (backstroke), Robin Corsiglia (breaststroke), and Anne Jardin (freestyle). At the 1978 World Championships in Berlin, she and her Canadian teammates won a bronze medal in the 4x100-metre freestyle relay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alicia Coutts</span> Australian swimmer (born 1987)

Alicia Jayne Coutts, is an Australian competitive medley, butterfly and freestyle swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She was a Swimming Australia National Training Centre scholarship holder and was coached by John Fowlie. Her haul of five medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics matches fellow Australians Ian Thorpe and Shane Gould in one single Olympics, and trails only Emma McKeon’s seven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katerine Savard</span> Canadian swimmer (born 1993)

Katerine Savard is a Canadian former competitive swimmer who specializes in women's butterfly events and freestyle relay. She holds several Canadian national records in the butterfly over the 50-, 100-, and 200-metre distances in both the short and long courses. Savard also holds the Canadian junior butterfly record in the 200-metre event. She won the gold medal at the 100-metre butterfly event at the 2013 Summer Universiade, held in Kazan. Savard also won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the 100-metre butterfly in Glasgow, where she set the Commonwealth record in the process. At the same games, she won a bronze medal as a member of the women's 4×100-metre medley relay team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma McKeon</span> Australian swimmer (born 1994)

Emma Jennifer McKeon, is a retired Australian competitive swimmer. She is an eight-time world record holder, three current and five former, in relays. Her total career haul of 14 Olympic medals following the 2024 Olympic Games made her the most decorated Australian, the third-most decorated swimmer, and the seventh-most decorated athlete in Olympic history and included one gold medal from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, four gold medals from the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and one gold medal from the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. With four gold and three bronze medals she was the most decorated athlete across all sports at the 2020 Summer Olympics, and tied for the most medals won by a woman in a single Olympic Games. She also won 20 medals, including five gold medals, at the World Aquatics Championships; and a record 20 medals, including 14 gold, at the Commonwealth Games.

References

  1. 1 2 "Swimming WA Hall of Legends Induction. Inductee 2" (PDF). Swimming WA. 26 May 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 May 2018.
  2. "Hall of Legends". Swimming WA. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2018.