Linda McGill

Linda McGill
Personal information
Nickname(s) Linda Carol McGill
National team Australia
Born (1945-12-17) 17 December 1945
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Breaststroke, butterfly, medley

Linda Carol McGill (born 17 December 1945), also known by her married name Linda Kruk, is an Australian former competition swimmer noted both for achievements at the Commonwealth Games and in long-distance swimming.

Career

At the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, McGill won the bronze medal in the women's 110-yard butterfly, the silver medal in the women's 440-yard individual medley, and the gold medal in the 4×110-yard medley relay.[1] In 1964, she was banned by amateur swimming authorities for alleged misbehavior at the Tokyo Olympic Games.[2] She became a long distance swimmer, becoming the first Australian to swim the English Channel in 1965,[2] swimming topless and posing topless for press photographs after the swim.[3] On this swim, she missed setting a then-world women's record by just 11 minutes.[4] In an effort to beat the record, she formally petitioned for and was granted permission from the Channel Swimming Association to swim topless.[5][6] In 1967, she beat the record with a time of just under 10 hours.[2] In 1976, swimming topless, she became the first person ever to swim around Hong Kong Island, accomplishing this in 17 hours.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "1962 Australian Team and Results" (PDF). Commonwealth Games Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "McGill, Linda". The Australian Women's Register. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  3. ↑ McGill, Linda (2007). Surviving the Sea of Life: The triumphs and tragedies of an Australian Olympian. New Holland. ISBN 1741105285.
  4. ↑ "Channel Swim Easy for Linda McGill". The Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  5. ↑ "Swimmer in Channel Topless" (PDF). Watertown Daily Times. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "Topless Swimmer". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "Linda swims around Hong Kong". The Age. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
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