Nancy Lyons
Encyclopedia
Beatrice "Nancy" Lyons (born 12 April 1930), known after marriage as Beatrice Welch, was an Australia
n breaststroke
swimmer of the 1940s and 1950s, who won a silver medal in the 200m breaststroke at the 1948 Summer Olympics
in London
.
Coached in Brisbane
by Mabel Springfield, the chaperone for female athletes on the Australian 1928 Summer Olympics
team, Lyons nearly missed the London games. Although she was one of 25 swimmers chosen for the team, due to post-war financial difficulties, she was forced to raise the money herself to pay her fare to the Olympics. Luckily for her, this was achieved and she finished half a second behind the world record holder Petronella van Vliet of The Netherlands. This was only two months after changing from the traditional breaststroke technique to the butterfly stroke, which was at that stage permitted due to a loophole in the rules.
At the 1950 British Empire Games
in Auckland
, Lyons was beaten into second place by Scottish
swimmer Helen Gordon in the 220yd breaststroke, and won gold in the 3x110yd medley relay with Judy-Joy Davies
and Marjorie McQuade (as only three different strokes were in existence at the time). At the 1952 Summer Olympics
in Helsinki
, Lyons finished last in her semi-final with a time more than six seconds outside her best, set in the London final four years earlier. She retired after the games.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n breaststroke
Breaststroke
The breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on his or her chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to its stability and the ability to keep the head out of the water a large portion of the time. In most swimming classes, beginners learn...
swimmer of the 1940s and 1950s, who won a silver medal in the 200m breaststroke at the 1948 Summer Olympics
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in London, England, United Kingdom. After a 12-year hiatus because of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Coached in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
by Mabel Springfield, the chaperone for female athletes on the Australian 1928 Summer Olympics
1928 Summer Olympics
The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam had bid for the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games, but had to give way to war-victim Antwerp, Belgium, and Pierre de...
team, Lyons nearly missed the London games. Although she was one of 25 swimmers chosen for the team, due to post-war financial difficulties, she was forced to raise the money herself to pay her fare to the Olympics. Luckily for her, this was achieved and she finished half a second behind the world record holder Petronella van Vliet of The Netherlands. This was only two months after changing from the traditional breaststroke technique to the butterfly stroke, which was at that stage permitted due to a loophole in the rules.
At the 1950 British Empire Games
1950 British Empire Games
The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth edition of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between the 4th and 11th of February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the 3rd edition of the games...
in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, Lyons was beaten into second place by Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
swimmer Helen Gordon in the 220yd breaststroke, and won gold in the 3x110yd medley relay with Judy-Joy Davies
Judy-Joy Davies
Judy-Joy Davies was an Australian backstroke swimmer of the 1940s and 1950s, who won a bronze medal in the 100m backstroke at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. At national level, she won 17 Australian Championships in freestyle, backstroke and medley swimming...
and Marjorie McQuade (as only three different strokes were in existence at the time). At the 1952 Summer Olympics
1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II...
in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, Lyons finished last in her semi-final with a time more than six seconds outside her best, set in the London final four years earlier. She retired after the games.