By Ian Jobling
The names of champion swimmers, especially those who came so close to becoming an Olympian, should still be celebrated with admiration, and one such name, Jan Croft, has been living among us in Noosa since 1996.
Jan was considered for the Australian team for the 1960 Rome Games and the reason
she missed out was that there was no event for her talents in long-distance swimming as there was no 800 metres Freestyle for women at those Games. It was introduced, along with the 200 metres for women, two Olympiads later in Mexico City in 1968.
At the age of thirteen Jan won ‘a string of five medals’ at the 1958 Queensland championships and was selected to go to the Australian Titles in Melbourne to compete in the Junior 110, 220 and Open 440 and 880 yd Freestyle. Unfortunately, she had to withdraw through a lack of funding.
Her home town of Ayr in northern Queensland, however, was less than 100kms away, and Jan gained much experience later that year because she mingled and trained alongside the swimmers selected for the Cardiff Games while in ‘winter training’ at the Townsville Tobruk Baths.
In December 1958 Jan travelled to Melbourne to be coached by Bill Atkinson and, later, Forbes Carlisle in Sydney. At least one journalist wrote, “She will compete in State Championships in Queensland and NSW early in the New Year and can quite easily make the team to travel to the Olympic Games in 1960.”
Just over one year out from the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, the chairman of the Ayr Council in northern Queensland received a letter from Bill Atkinson, a prominent swimming coach from Melbourne. Part of the letter was published on July 8, 1959 in the Ayr Advocate under the headline, ‘Jan Paine in First 30’:
“ I have just received from Mr Ken Knox, ‘Sports’ writer from the “Melbourne Herald”, the women’s placings in world class swimming. As the head of your town, I feel sure that your council would like to know that Jan Paine of Ayr was among the first thirty in the world over 440 yards or 400 metres freestyle swimming. Also, she was in the first twenty in the world over 880 yards or 800 metres freestyle swimming.
“As Miss Paine was Queensland open champion over 220, 440, and 880, also Queensland’s junior champion over 110 and 220, her world classification is an honour to your town.”
The 15-year-old record breaker is recorded in the official swimming records as ‘Y’ for Yvonne but was known as Jan.
Few people realise she is now the renowned swimmer and coach of the Noosa Masters Swimming Club, and very successful age-group ocean-swimming, Jan Croft.
At the NSW Titles in 1959, “Yvonne Paine ”came a meritorious fourth in the NSW Open 220 yds in 2:33.6, was fourth in the open 440 yds in 5:18.0, and third to Ilsa Konrads in 11:3 secs for the 800 metres – 11 seconds better than her own Queensland record. She clocked 11.15 for the 880 yards
A few weeks later Jan won the Queensland State title for the 880 yards, and after the announcement of her world rankings, the local Ayr Advocate newspaper proclaimed ecstatically, “Jan could well force her way into the Olympic Squad for next year’s Olympiad in Rome.”
Jan moved from the Ayr Club to Townsville to be coached by her older sister Robin because, as the local press reported, “the competition is much stiffer here, which should develop her prowess still further.” It did, Jan swam the 220-yard Freestyle in 2:29.7, which would have placed her in 4th position at the 1959 Australian championships behind Dawn Fraser, Ilsa Konrads, and Alva Colquhoun (2:29.0). Again, she had not attended those championships due to lack of funding from the QASA.
In mid-January 1960, Jan became the first Queenslander to break 11 minutes when she retained her title in 10:44.8 – 36.9 seconds faster than her Queensland title-winning time in 1959. This time she was fully funded to compete at the National Championships and Selection Trials for the Rome Olympics.
The Townsville press reported, “Her times for all distances showed a marked improvement at the Australian titles and showed that Jan may become a definite Olympic prospect for the future.”
Clearly, in the 440-yard event, the 15-year-old from country Queensland came up against very experienced and outstanding swimmers – the first four place-getters were Dawn Fraser (4:47.4), Ilsa Konrads, Sandra Morgan and Lorraine Crapp.
In the 880 yards Final, “Miss Ilsa Konrads” won (10:17.9), with “Miss Yvonne Paine” coming second (10:46.9).
Yvonne (Jan) Paine was not selected in the 28-member squad to undertake training in Townsville prior to departure for Rome in August 1960. All those chosen were among the top ten in the world rankings for their stroke and distance.
As stated earlier, as a long-distance swimmer, Jan was thwarted because the 800 metres for women was not an event in the 1960 Rome Olympics.
I spoke to Jan last week and asked her about just missing selection for the Rome Games. “I considered myself too young to make the team for the 1960 Olympics,” she said.
“However, I was pleased, when several coaches encouraged me try for the 1962 Empire and Commonwealth Games selection in Perth”.
Over the next few years, Jan dominated the longest distances then available for female swimmers. She won the Northern Queensland, Queensland State, and Australian Championships in the 880 yards in 1961 and 1962, following which she retired from competition swimming and accepted an offer to become a coach at Don Talbot’s new pool complex in Lidcombe in Sydney.
After a year with the increasingly successful Talbot, and a yearning for Far-North Queensland, Jan accepted the offer to become coach of the Cairns Swimming Club.
Her involvement in Noosa is legendary. She has been acknowledged Queensland Masters Swimming Coach of the Year twice, introduced in 2005 the on-going Over-50s Squad at the Noosa Aquatic Centre ago, and is still a most successful Masters pool and age-group ocean-swimmer.
(Ian Jobling is Honorary Director of the UQ Centre of Olympic Studies)
