Lyn McClements

Who is Lyn McClements?

Lynnette Velma McClements, was an Australian butterfly swimmer of the 1960s and 1970s who won a gold medal in the 100m butterfly at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Her daughter, Jacqueline McKenzie, represented Australia at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the 200m and 400m individual medley.

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

In the 4x100m medley relay, she combined with Lynne Watson, Judy Playfair and Janet Steinbeck to claim silver behind the United States. McClements had put Australia in the lead during the butterfly leg, but Steinbeck was overhauled by Susan Shields in the anchor freestyle leg. McClements was said to be lacking confidence prior to the 100m 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 1m 5.5s. She later missed the final of the 200m butterfly.