THE JOURNEY BEGAN with just 10 yards.

It was a Fourth of July during the early 1960’s. Barb McKee (Lemmons) was eight years old, and her parents, Walter and Loraine, were looking for an enjoyable event to take in the holiday.

Entering McKee in a ’10-Yard Splash’ event at Eastmoor South Recreation Park’s pool on Columbus, Ohio’s east side was their answer to celebrating America’s birthday.

Despite never swimming before and being more on the shy side, McKee touched the wall in the small pool long before the rest of the field did.

Better yet, she broke the pool record in the event.

“After that, the coach came over and asked if I wanted to swim on the swim team, and I swam competitively ever since then,” McKee remembered.

It was a star-spangled preview of the natural talent she had for the sport that over 60 years later has finally led her into BGSU’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

MCKEE WAS RAISED in Worthington, north of Columbus, where she continued to shine in the pool long after the ’10-Yard Splash’ despite the community not having one.

Walter, an engineer and formerly in the Navy, was one of several in the city who vouched for a pool during the area’s post-World War II swimming pool boom. He built a model out of sticks, and the family of five would go around their neighborhood and sell bonds to get the natatorium built.

It eventually was approved, and Worthington had their pool.

Swimming for Worthington High School, McKee continued to excel as she won numerous accolades while also winning an individual state title.

Just before her senior year, McKee even qualified for Olympic trials for the Munich Games in 1972 that were held at Portage Park in Chicago.

Her achievements, not her words, spoke for themselves.

“I really liked being part of a team,” McKee said. “I liked being a competitor, but I was what they would consider a shy competitor, because it’s just my personality. I never talked about it very much, but even some of my high school friends generally knew how much I did swim, because I just enjoyed it.”

That enjoyment for the sport she loved coupled with her desire to attend a school close to home with an elementary education major led McKee to Bowling Green to continue her athletic career.

While athletic scholarships were not offered for women’s sports at the time, McKee was recruited by the mother architect of BGSU’s women’s swimming & diving program, Dr. Jean Campbell, who founded the program in 1966 and had built it into one of the best in Ohio.

Looking to build the team up after Title IX increased opportunities for women in sports, Campbell left an indelible impression on her prized recruit.

“She was wonderful,” McKee remembered about Campbell. “I just felt like she was very caring, and she was striving to make BGSU a really strong team. She was patient but motivating, and she pushed us to be our best.”

Despite facilities that were “not the best” then, the women’s program received tremendous support from the university, community and men’s team.

McKee was a major part of that, as she established herself as the program’s best swimmer early on.

As a freshman in 1974, she led the Falcons in scoring and took first in at least one event during each meet. She also helped the team win the Mid-American Conference (MAC) title by almost 140 points and earn a victory at the Ohio Association of Intercollegiate Sports Women (OAISW) state meet along with competing at the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Championships at Penn State.

After being awarded an athletic scholarship following that season, McKee earned All-America honors in 1975 with a 14th-place finish in the 100 backstroke at the AIAW meet.

Bowling Green won the state meet again in 1976 and the Midwest Association of Intercollegiate Athletic Women (MAIAW) regional meet. McKee earned All-America honors in six different events (three individual, three relays) and solidified herself as one of the program’s greatest swimmers of the pre-NCAA era.

“Barb McKee is the best all-around swimmer we’ve ever had at Bowling Green,” Campbell said after that season. “Barb is a tireless worker and a cool competitor. She swims only against herself and only blames herself for her performance.”

Campbell retired following McKee’s senior season in 1977 after her star swimmer qualified for the AIAW meet for the fourth consecutive year and the team won the state meet again.

While McKee individually shined in the program’s golden era, it was a team culture cultivated by Campbell that led to their success.

Barb McKee is the best all-around swimmer we’ve ever had at Bowling Green.

Dr. Jean Campbell (after 1976 season)

“It was a very positive teamwork experience,” McKee recalled. “We all worked together, and we supported each other. We knew that Coach Campbell would set a positive attitude, be a good role model and do the right thing so we could have success, and we got along well instead of competing with each other. 

“The team dynamics I learned were probably the most important things for our success, because there was not a lot of jealousy. We worked as a team, traveled as a team, and left as a team. They were my friends.”

Out of the pool, McKee’s parents were as equally supportive, never missing a meet and bringing her to every practice growing up.

A special friend who later became her husband of almost 50 years was also always cheering McKee on throughout her college career.

McKee first met Jack Lemmons before the start of her senior year of high school in 1972. Lemmons, who is from Kentucky, would drive up to Bowling Green a couple times a month to visit McKee while attending as many meets as he could.

“She swam against all the other competitors and just blew them all away,” Jack remembered. “All I said was, ‘Wow, this girl's got some talent.’”

McKee graduated from Bowling Green a few weeks early and married Lemmons in April 1977 in Worthington. Shortly after, the newlyweds moved to Henderson, Ky., about 12 miles south of Evansville, Ind., across the Ohio River.

She passionately taught kindergarten at two elementary schools in Henderson for over 30 years and had two children, Matthew and Brett, along the way.

McKee’s involvement with swimming was minimal after graduation, once helping coach a local YMCA team but was hard because “when I do something, I usually give 100 percent and I just put 100 percent in my teaching.”

That did not mean the lessons learned from swimming were far away from the career she cared so much about, winning awards for excellence in her profession.

“Swimming taught me the value of teamwork, commitment, hard work and discipline,” McKee said. “It helped me motivate and encourage my students. The kids were so sweet, because they really looked up to me, and I thought I was a good teacher for them. I really put a lot of time and effort into my teaching.”

After retiring, McKee and Jack moved to a home a mile from Anna Maria Island, Fla., outside Bradenton in 2014.

Matthew is an artist in nearby Sarasota, while Brett, a doctor of physical therapy, his wife and three children who are just getting into swimming reside in Kentucky’s capital of Lexington.

While McKee’s swim career might be as distant as a Sunshine State sunset, its beautiful mix of shy competitiveness with a desire to be the best she could be created greatness that still radiates near the horizon in Bowling Green lore.

Almost 50 years after McKee last competed for the Orange and Brown, she earns a spot along with four of her other teammates as the “First Five” female All-Americans in BGSU history that helped usher the Falcons into a dominant era of women’s athletics at the university.

“I am very grateful, thrilled and amazed that I could be honored in this manner,” McKee said. “I had a very positive experience at Bowling Green, and I’m just grateful for the time and effort that Dr. Jean Campbell put into us and the team. I’m honored that I had the opportunity to swim for Bowling Green.”

Swimming taught me the value of teamwork, commitment, hard work and discipline.

Barb McKee (Lemmons)

She was wonderful. I just felt like she was very caring, and she was striving to make BGSU a really strong team. She was patient but motivating, and she pushed us to be our best.

Barb McKee (Lemmons) on Dr. Jean Campbell