Ms Nancy Lyons

Beatrice “Nancy” Lyons was unable to raise the fare to the 1948 Olympics in London, however, the breaststroker eventually got there with the help of community fundraising and repaid her supporters with a silver medal in the 200m.

She also won silver in that event and gold in the 110-yard medley relay at the 1950 Empire Games in Auckland.

She was Queensland University’s first Olympian and was trained in Brisbane by noted swimmer and Coach Mabel Springfield, who also had an Olympic connection; in the Amsterdam Olympics of 1928 she was selected as the chaperone for the female competitors