Linda Carol McGill, 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.
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. In 1964, she was banned by amateur swimming authorities for alleged misbehavior at the Tokyo Olympic Games. She became a long distance swimmer, becoming the first Australian to swim the English Channel in 1965, swimming topless and posing topless for press photographs after the swim. On this swim, she missed setting a then-world women's record by just 11 minutes. 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. In 1967, she beat the record with a time of just under 10 hours. 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.
