Barbara McAulay had her first major international success in diving at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, where she took gold on platform and silver on springboard. Two years later, while representing Australia at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, she placed 14th and 13th in those events respectively while suffering from an ear infection. Shortly after the Games, she married Tom Donnet and entered the Donnet family of divers: Tom and his father, Tom Sr., were well-respected coaches, while Tom Jr.’s sister Irene had been a gold medalist in the springboard at the 1938 British Empire Games. Barbara’s daughter Jenny represented Australia in diving at four consecutive editions of the Olympics, from 1980 through 1992.