Mrs Mac during the farewell event. Photos: Supplied.
For more than five decades, Helen “Mrs Mac” McKay has been the heart of Oak Flats Swimming Club, coaching generations of swimmers and shaping young lives with discipline, passion, and a love for the water.
Now, at 86, the beloved coach has hung up her whistle, leaving behind a legacy that was born from a childhood near-drowning experience and grew into an extraordinary 56-year commitment to teaching kids how to swim.
Marking the occasion with a farewell event last Friday (14 March) with a large contingent of past and present members and family at the Oak Flats Swimming Pool, there was no better venue for it than the one that had become a second home to Helen and her late husband Ted who began running the club soon after it started in 1968.
“The swimming club was formed and we went over there to a Learn to Swim program for our three boys,” Helen said.
“My husband got involved in helping, and everybody wandered away and we were still there – we got left holding the bag.”
Helen and Ted soon found themselves running the club, with their passion – and the club – growing fast.
“We always said you can’t do it with one lesson a week, so it just rolled and rolled till we got our coaches and are doing what we’re doing now,” she said.
“He was there 40 years till he passed away, and I’ve been 56.”
Their dedication to the club as volunteers resulted in the Oak Flats pool being named in their honour and Helen being awarded Shellharbour City Council Citizen of the Year in 2019.
In fact, Ted’s commitment to the kids would often see him picking up kids in his EH Holden station wagon if they couldn’t get to and from swimming.
“It’s always been a passion, but children should learn to swim where we live,” she said.
“I had an experience of nearly drowning as a child and it always stuck with me.
“I always said, ‘If I had children, they will learn to swim’ and that’s how it came about.”
Over the years, Helen has seen countless children and teenagers come through the club, with the sport often helping them stay on the right path in life.
“We’ve got a couple of families swimming their third generation and quite a lot swimming their second generation,” she said.
“I’ve seen people go into high powered jobs and really good jobs.
“You can count on your hand the people that just went off the tracks.”
She said much of that good behaviour stemmed from being disciplined but not hard and ensuring they respected one another.
It’s also equated to success in the pool, having helped nurture many in the club into state and even national-level competitors.
One of her proudest moments was when former club member David Smith won an Olympic gold medal in kayaking, with swimming having helped his kayaking.
“You leave them till they’re ready – you let them have fun and come and enjoy it and help teach them to save their life,” she said.
“But if they’re ready and they want to do it, you’re there to help them through.
“It’s not just those ones though – it’s everybody.
“Those ones on top don’t get there unless they’re got everybody else.”
She said being a swimming coach had been a passion for her, with her attributing the kids that had gone through the club as being the reason she’s kept going for so long.
“For 17 years, I’ve been by myself since Ted passed away,” she said.
“Other than that, I would have been just sitting at home doing nothing,
“I sit in all sorts of weather with the umbrella up, but it’s kept me in good health.”
Now, with a strong committee and capable coaches in place, Helen feels confident she’s leaving the club in good hands.
“My brain is working but my legs are not working so good now,” she said.
“But the thing is, we’ve never been in such good stead with a good committee and there were only ever two coaches working at a time and now we’ve got seven.
“So they’re in the position with seven people that I can back out and know it’s in good hands.”
For last Friday night’s farewell celebrations, she said she hadn’t wanted a formal dinner, but rather the inflatable in the pool so the kids could enjoy it.
“I had one man in his 50s now who came back to say goodbye,” she said.
“He said, ‘You’re like a second family’. I said, ‘Well, you all are family to me.’”
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