Liz Long

In 1960, freestyle swimmer Liz Long won the ASA British girl´s 220 yards title in a new junior and senior British record 2:24.5. She also won the senior 440 yards title at the same championships, and again, in both junior and senior record times.

Long made her Great Britain début against Russia at Moscow in 1961 when just 14-years-of-age. She retained her ASA girl´s 220 title that year and was also runner-up in both the senior 220 and 440 events. After holding on to her girl´s title in 1962, Long also won the first of four consecutive senior 440 titles. In winning back-to-back 220 senior titles in 1964 and 1965, it meant she had won seven senior ASA titles. Additionally, she had also enjoyed five podium finishes, including the 220 free and 440 individual medley behind Anita Lonsbrough in 1963. Between 1962-65 Long broke or equalled the British women´s native 440 freestyle record eight times, lowering it from 4:57.5 to 4:47.8. At the 1965 ASA championships, she set a new British and English 220 yards record of 2:16.1 and also broke the European 200 metres record twice within 48 hours.

Long competed at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, finishing sixth in the 400 freestyles, fifth in the 4x100 medley relay, and ninth in the 4x100 freestyle relay. Either side of the Olympics, she appeared in the 1962 Perth, Australia, and 1966 Kingston, Jamaica, British Empire and Commonwealth Games, winning bronze medals in the 440 yards free and 4x110 yards freestyle relay. Sadly, her form dipped at the Kingston Games, and, because of it, she withdrew from the British squad scheduled to go to the Utrecht European Championships the week after her return from Jamaica. A former London Stock Exchange broker´s statistician, Long went to live in Australia in 1969 where she worked on the floor of the Sydney Stock Exchange.