How a York mother who can’t swim became a world-class swimming referee and Tokyo Olympics official

York mother Jacqui McNamara is a professionally trained swimming referee who’s been to the Olympics, rubbed shoulders with Michael Phelps, and shared a pool deck with the Australian women’s world record-breaking relay team when they won gold in Tokyo.

But one thing the swimming expert hasn’t achieved, is learning to swim.

“I’m not a sporting person at all,” she joked.

Ms McNamara’s obscure introduction to swimming came through her upbringing in a small farming community in New Zealand.

“We used to have our swimming lessons in the river. And I just hated it,” she recalled.

“I just don’t like the water over my head.“

Emigrating to Australia and starting a family, Ms McNamara settled in the Wheatbelt and enrolled her kids into classes at the local pool.

While her children lost interest, the 59-year-old took to officiating like a duck to water.

“They gave up swimming, and I continued as an official, so I’ve been involved with the York swimming club for probably about 28 years,” she said.

Joining FINA in 2017 — now known as World Aquatics — Ms McNamara became one of only six recognised referees in Australia to exist at any given time.

She explained how managing pressure and staying in the moment is key to the role, along with razor-sharp vision.

“Take breaststroke for instance. You’ve got to touch the wall with both hands simultaneously, so you might see a swimmer only touch with one hand,” she said.

A swimmer can be disqualified, and their team can lodge a protest where the swimmer may be reinstated if a jury of senior officials declares they have not infringed.

Due to the infrequent nature of the Olympics, the referee admitted she was initially somewhat “intimidated” by coaches and the threat of derailing a swimmer’s fleeting shot at success.

“You know they’ve worked four years to get to that stage,” she said.

Selected for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as the sole Australian swimming official — though as a timekeeper and not a referee — Ms McNamara revealed how the role of a clock-watcher ignited her passion for officiating years ago.

Claiming it was “exciting to be around world-class athletes”, she recalled sharing an arena with the likes of legends Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett and Susie O’Neill.

Officiating in June at the Australian Olympic Trials in Brisbane, Ms McNamara’s services have unfortunately not been added to the rotation for Paris.

Despite her accomplishments, the York mother might only be third in her family’s pecking order of high achievers.

Her son Jayson has just released a documentary titled Norita backed by Hollywood legend Jane Fonda.

And her husband Shane is a renowned “chook judge”.

“Sometimes I’m off at swim meets and he’s off to chook shows, judging poultry,” she chuckled.

Hoping to inspire the next wave of elite swimmers and officials from towns like York, Ms McNamara is calling upon the government to assist.

“We need government funding to get a new 50m pool,” she said.

“If we don’t have country pools, people like me won’t go to the Olympics.”