Born: Como, W.A.
22 November, 1952
A handsome haul of four gold medals at the 1970 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games earned backstroke swimmer Lynne Watson a place in Western Australia’s sporting annals. The lithe young lady, who was born close to the water in the Perth riverside suburb of Como, had her first taste of international success at the Mexico City Olympic Games. She featured in Australia’s 4 x 100m medley relay team, which finished second to the powerful United States combination that had to break the world record to beat the Australians.
The career that started when Lynne won a 50m freestyle event in Perth at the age of 11, culminated in Edinburgh in July of 1970.
The gold medal splurge was actually preceded by a disappointment on the opening day. Lynne Watson lost the 100m freestyle by a mere fingernail touch. But that silver medal was followed by a quartet of gold on subsequent days – in the 100m and 200m backstroke events and then the 4 x 100m medley and freestyle relays.
Lynne Watson had been unbeaten in Australia for four years in backstroke events and her gold medals in Edinburgh were both won in Commonwealth record time, the 200m being the second fastest in the world at that time.
On the national scene, she won 10 open championships in backstroke, freestyle and individual medleys, dominating Australian Championships from 1967 to 1970.
Her Australian titles were all won in record time with the 100m and 200m records standing for several years after her 1972 retirement – an irrevocable decision after she had missed selection in the Munich Olympic Games team.
An A-grade netballer and an A-Reserve grade squash player, she has continued her association with the Olympic and Commonwealth Games office in Perth. She married Steve Bates in 1978 and continued as a swimming coach. She is now a mother of three children.