Olympian Dies After Long Illness
Australian Olympian, English Channel conqueror and open-water swimming trailblazer Linda McGill has died aged 79 on the Gold Coast. She passed away on Wednesday afternoon at Robina Hospital following a battle with emphysema, a chronic lung condition. Former teammate and Olympic legend Dawn Fraser called McGill “a good friend, loyal team member, an amazing human, champion swimmer in the pool and the open water,” reflecting on her lifelong contribution to Australian sport. Fraser arranged for the Olympic Committee to present McGill’s family with an Olympic flag, which delighted those close to her. McGill will be remembered for her fierce independence, historic swimming achievements and decades of service to the sport.
Linda McGill died aged 79 on the Gold Coast
Early Life and National Rise
Born on 17 December 1945, McGill grew up in the Sydney suburb of Abbotsford on Hen and Chicken Bay, where she trained from a young age with her father, police sergeant Malcolm McGill. She began winning local freestyle and breaststroke events by age nine and caught the attention of coach Frank Guthrie. At 13, she had already won seven NSW State age-group titles and progressed to national-level competition. In 1958, she joined Forbes Carlile’s squad and later trained under Don Talbot, building a strong base in breaststroke and butterfly. By 1961, McGill had claimed her first Open National title in Brisbane at just 15 years old and continued to dominate at the 1962 Australian championships with wins in the 440-yard individual medley and 110-yard butterfly, along with a second-place finish in the 220-yard breaststroke.
Commonwealth and Olympic Controversy
McGill earned selection for the 1962 Perth Commonwealth Games where she won gold in the 4x100m medley relay with Dawn Fraser, Marguerite Ruygrok and Pam Sargeant, silver in the 220-yard individual medley and bronze in the 110-yard butterfly. In 1964, she won five national titles in three days – a women’s record at the time – in the 100m and 200m butterfly, 200m and 400m individual medley and 200m breaststroke, with multiple Australian records set during the campaign. She secured automatic selection for the Tokyo Olympics, where she competed in four events including the 200m breaststroke, 100m butterfly and 400m IM, finishing fifth in the latter in an Australian record time. However, McGill was banned alongside Fraser, Nanette Duncan and Marlene Dayman for defying an order to skip the Opening Ceremony, a decision that shocked the nation and devastated their Olympic prospects.
Linda won gold at the Commonwealth Games in the 4x100m medley relay
English Channel Record and International Glory
After the ban, McGill toured Britain and Europe with Ruth Everuss and Ilsa Konrads and was introduced to the idea of Channel swimming for the first time in London. On 7 August 1965, she became the first Australian to swim the English Channel, finishing the gruelling journey in 11 hours and 12 minutes despite diarrhoea, seasickness and near dehydration. She swam coated in lanolin, receiving hot kangaroo-tail soup via pole from her crew without making contact, which would have resulted in disqualification. Konrads attempted to support her in the water but withdrew after becoming ill. In 1967, McGill completed another two Channel swims, one of which set a new women’s record of 9 hours 59 minutes, only 24 minutes short of the men’s world record.
Linda McGill was the first Australian to conquer the English Channel
Global Marathon Swimming Career
McGill went on to conquer open water swims globally, including the first crossings of Port Phillip Bay from Portarlington to Frankston and the first swim around Hong Kong Island in 1972, which she completed in 16 hours and 6 minutes. She also swam from Capri to Naples, across Lake Ontario, Lake Simone, lac St Jean and from Block Island to Rhode Island. She swam from Brisbane to Moreton Island, Townsville to Magnetic Island and later completed the Arabian Gulf crossing between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in 1977. McGill also became the first Australian to complete the Manhattan Island Swim in 1983, repeating the swim twice more before 1986. She continued competing, including at the 1989 World Masters Games in Rio de Janeiro. On 4 August 1968, she finished the Traversee Internationale du lac St-Jean in 12 hours 2 minutes and 44 seconds.
Also Read: James Hooper Sacked Over Drink-Driving Charge
Recognition and Continued Service
On New Year’s Day 1968, McGill was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), then the youngest Australian to receive the honour. She was inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in the same year and into the inaugural class of the Australian Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2020. In her later years, McGill continued ocean swimming at Broadbeach while living on the Gold Coast. She auctioned her entire medal and memorabilia collection in 2007 to raise funds for charity.
Resilience and Personal Challenges
McGill endured numerous personal setbacks, including the tragic loss of her mother, a near-fatal car accident and a difficult divorce. She faced ongoing battles with skin cancer and remained open about her experiences in her autobiography Surviving the Sea of Life: The Triumphs and Tragedies of an Australian Olympian. In the book, she recounted her global travels, encounters with celebrities, and resilience in the face of adversity. Despite the ASU ban in 1965 being labelled a “laughing stock” worldwide, McGill persevered and built a historic career beyond pool lanes.
Tributes from Friends and Family
Close friend George Christofides told the Gold Coast Bulletin that Linda McGill was an “amazing human” with a “good soul.” Her father once said, “It took … a lot of money and sacrifices to get Linda to the top.” He added that training her four hours daily since childhood shaped her into a world-class athlete. Linda McGill’s legacy spans not only Olympic and Commonwealth success but a defining role in global open-water swimming history.
