Jean H. MCDOWALL

First spotted as a talented swimmer at North Berwick baths as a youngster, Jean McDowall, the daughter of a schoolmaster, was encouraged to join the Edinburgh Warrender Club and she went on to win five Scottish titles. In 1928 she became the second Warrender member to compete in the Olympics, after Ellen King four years earlier. King also started her early swimming at North Berwick.

At the Amsterdam Games, McDowall was narrowly beaten into fourth place in the 100 metres freestyle by team-mate Joyce Cooper. The following year, Cooper denied McDowall an ASA title by beating her into second place in the 100 yards. At the inaugural British Empire Games in 1930, McDowall won a bronze medal in the 4x100 yards freestyle relay with Cissie Stewart, Jessie McVey and Ellen King. At the European Championships in 1937 she won a silver medal in the 4x100 with Valerie Davies, Phyllis Harding, and Joyce Cooper.

At the 1934 Empire Games in London, McDowall won two bronze medals; in the 100 yards free and 3x110 yards medley relay, with Margot Hamilton and Margaret McCullum. McDowall took up golf towards the end of her swimming career and got down to playing off a six handicap. After her marriage to Edinburgh civil engineer James Burnett, she became president of the Scottish Ladies Golfing Association and was also chair of the Ladies' Golf Union, the governing body of women's golf in Britain. She was an honorary member of the Gullane and North Berwick Clubs, and continued playing into her 90th year, getting up at 7AM to play six holes at Gullane each morning.