McGill, Linda (1945 - )

Linda McGill was one of the Olympic stars banned by the amateur swimming authorities as punishment for alleged misbehaviour in 1964 at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Five months after being suspended, she became the first Australian to swim the English Channel. In 1967, she set a women's record for the swim of 9 hours 59 minutes and 57 seconds, a time that came very close to beating the men's record (9 hours and 35 minutes) as well. Thre months later, she became the first person to swim across Port Phillip Bay in Victoria, Australia. She swam the twenty-five miles from Portarlington to Frankston in 13 hours.

Events

1962	Gold Medalist at Perth Empire and Commonwealth Games - Swimming - 4 x 110y Medley relay
1965	First Australian to swim the English Channel
1967	Broke the women's rrecord for the English Channel Swim
1968	First Australian to swim across Port Phillip Bay

Related People

• Fraser, Dawn (1937 - )

  Dawn Fraser and Linda McGill were two of the Olympic Athletes banned by amateur swimming authorities for alleged misbehaviour at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964.

Australian Women Exhibitions

• She's Game: Women Making Australian Sporting History, Australian Women's Archives Project, 2007, http://www.womenaustralia.info/exhib/sg/sport-home.html. [ Details... ]

Edited Books

• Cashman, Richard (Senior Consultant); Olds, Margaret and Etherington, Kate (Managing Editors) (eds), Australian Sport Through Time: The History of Sport in Australia, Random House Australia, Milson's Point, 1997. [ Details... ]