Margaret McLean (Woodlock ‘56) was Captain of St Catherine’s School in 1956 and was selected to represent Australia in Shot Put at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. Margaret was Victorian Champion 1956 – 1962, Australian Champion 1957 – 1962 and was a gold medallist at the World Masters Games 2002.

Continuing her Athletics career while studying Physical Education at the University of Melbourne, she was awarded a University Full Blue for Athletics in 1957. Upon graduation she was appointed Head of Physical Education at MCEGGS in Australia and at Heathfield School in the UK. Margaret has also worked as the Box Office Manager at the Playhouse Theatre, Toronto, Canada. Her professional life continued as Development Director at Toorak College in Victoria and then Manager of the National Water Sports Centre for Melbourne’s 1996 Olympic bid. She ran her own professional major events business receiving the Premier Award for the Best Victorian Community Event in 2000, Making the Most of Life Expo.

In conjunction with her professional life, Margaret has given 60 years of voluntary service to Australian, English and Canadian organisations including 56 years with the Australian Guiding Movement as a guide, Certificate Trainer, major events organiser and member of the State Council, and 20 years with the Red Cross. She began as a volunteer First Aider with Red Cross, then with Sports Medicine First Aid serving for over 50 years. She was also a serving member of the Victorian Olympians Club Executive Committee and Director of the Strolling Players Youth Performing Arts Group.

Margaret has been honoured by Girl Guides Australia, the Red Cross and the American Biographical Institute, International Directory of Distinguished Leadership Award for outstanding service to Youth, Sport and Recreation, and by St Catherine’s School in 1995, with the creation of the Margaret Woodlock Award for Outstanding Sporting Achievements.

Margaret is also co-producer, consultant and interviewee for the feature documentary currently in production A Life Unexpected: The Man Behind The Miracle Mile, which tells the story of her Athletics coach, Franz Stampfl, who also trained Roger Bannister to break the four-minute mile in 1954. Margaret was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to masters sport and to the community in the 2017 Queen’s Birthdays Honours.

In her spare time, Margaret is a photographer of coastal landscapes, a regular public speaker at various schools and community events and enjoys her family and all their endeavours.

Updated June 2017