Lyn McClements
{{Short description|Australian swimmer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox swimmer
| name = Lyn McClements
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| fullname = Lynette Velma McClements
| nicknames = "Lyn"
| national_team = Australia
| strokes = Butterfly
| club =
| coach =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1951|5|11|df=y}}
| birth_place = Nedlands, Western Australia
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height = {{convert|1.77|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| weight = {{convert|66|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Women's swimming}}
{{MedalCountry | Australia}}
{{MedalCompetition | Olympic Games}}
{{MedalGold | 1968 Mexico City | 100 m butterfly}}
{{MedalSilver | 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.
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.{{Cite web|url=https://wa.swimming.org.au/visageimages/Hall%20of%20Legends%20-%20McClements.pdf|title=Swimming WA Hall of Legends Induction. Inductee 2|date=26 May 2018|website=Swimming WA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527014427/https://wa.swimming.org.au/visageimages/Hall%20of%20Legends%20-%20McClements.pdf|archive-date=27 May 2018|url-status=}}
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.
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."{{Cite web|url=https://wa.swimming.org.au/page.php?id=407|title=Hall of Legends|website=Swimming WA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527013207/https://wa.swimming.org.au/page.php?id=407|archive-date=27 May 2018|url-status=|access-date=2018-05-27}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{cite book | last = Andrews | first = Malcolm | year = 2000 | title = Australia at the Olympic Games|publisher=ABC Books |isbn=0-7333-0884-8 |location=Sydney, New South Wales |pages=432–433}}
- {{cite book | last = Howell | first = Max | year = 1986 | title = Aussie Gold|publisher=Brooks Waterloo |isbn=0-86440-680-0 |location=Albion, Queensland |pages=192–195}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions 100 m Butterfly Women}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McClements, Lyn}}
Category:Australian female butterfly swimmers
Category:Swimmers from Perth, Western Australia
Category:Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Category:Olympic swimmers for Australia
Category:Olympic gold medalists for Australia
Category:Olympic silver medalists for Australia
Category:Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Category:Sportswomen from Western Australia
Category:Olympic gold medalists in swimming
Category:Olympic silver medalists in swimming
Category:Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees