Born Nedlands WA
11 May 1951
The first Australian woman to win an Olympic Games butterfly gold medal, Lyn McKenzie was only 17 when she achieved that honour in the 100m event at the 1968 Mexico City Games. She set a Games record of 65.6sec in the final.
Her all-the-way win over Americans Ellie Daniels and Suzie Shields and world record holder Ada Kok was a surprise result for the Perth blonde.
The gold medal triumph came after Mrs McKenzie had teamed with Perth girl Lynne Watson (backstroke), Judy Playfair (breaststroke) and Janet Steinbeck (freestyle) to win a silver medal for Australia in the 4 x 100m medley relay.
Mrs McKenzie failed to qualify for the 200m butterfly final when she finished fourth in her heat. The excitement of the gold medal victory and the relay effort had taken its toll.
Mrs McKenzie achieved prominence at her first appearance at a national championships in 1968, winning the 100m butterfly, a performance that led directly to her selection for Mexico City.
But that was her only appearance for Australia in international swimming. She won the 100m and 200m butterfly events at the 1969 Australian championships but the 1970 series ended in disappointment. She was disqualified for an incorrect leg action in a heat of the 100m event and that cost her the chance to swim at the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games.
Mrs McKenzie’s bid to defend her Olympic title ended frustratingly. This time it was a clash over expenses. As a result she did not appear at the 1972 national championships.
So the career of Australia’s first lady of butterfly swimming came to a premature end before her 21st birthday on May 11, 1972.