Linda McGill

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. At age 29, McGill set a record for the fastest and only swim around Hong Kong Island which stood for over 40 years.

Linda McGill
Personal information
Nickname(s)Linda Carol McGill
National teamAustralia
Born (1945-12-17) 17 December 1945
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBreaststroke, butterfly, medley

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, in order to prevent the straps of her swimming costume from cutting into her shoulders, as they had done on previous long swims.[5][6] In 1967, she beat the record with a time of just under 10 hours.[2] On 23 May 1976, swimming topless most of the way, she became the first person ever to swim around Hong Kong Island, accomplishing this in 17 hours, 6 minutes. The swim, in a counterclockwise direction, was sponsored by Cathay Pacific and began and ended in Repulse Bay. McGill faced difficulties including jellyfish stings, pollution, objects in the water, ships, and inclement weather. Starting five miles into her swim, she took off her bikini top and went topless to avoid chafing. Although official records aren't kept for Hong Kong swims, this swim established an unofficial record for either gender that stood for over 40 years. McGill's record was beaten on 11 November 2017 by Simon Holliday, who swam the distance in 12 hours, 32 minutes.[7][8][9][10][11]

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References
  1. "1962 Australian Team and Results" (PDF). Commonwealth Games Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  2. "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.
  8. Wood, Chris (4 November 2017). "1976, and a topless Australian is first to swim around Hong Kong Island". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  9. Blundy, Rachel (19 August 2017). "Expat eyeing record for swimming around Hon<g Kong Island wants to make splash for charity". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  10. McNicol, Andrew (11 November 2017). "Two years in the planning ... five months of training ... 12 hours and 32 minutes of exhaustion ... then victory". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  11. Fitzgerald, Quinn (November 2017). "Simon Holliday Replicates Linda McGill Round Hong Kong - WOWSA". World Open Water Swimming Association. Retrieved 8 June 2020.


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