Barbara Mean

As a 14-year-old, Barbara Mean won her class in the 500 metres junior race at the Eastern Area Youth Championships and followed that by winning the 1964 British Open Youth Championship a few months later. Mean won the 1965 national K-2 title with Kay Emmerson and finished second in the national youth championships. The following year Mean finished third in the K-1 national championship over 3000 metres and was selected for the World Championships, alongside her brother Mick.

Barbara teamed up with Lesley Oliver in 1967 and they won a K-2 bronze medal at the European Junior Championships in Sweden. The following year they qualified for the K-2 final at the Mexico Olympics, but finished eighth (out of nine). Barbara, who worked for a medical supply firm, and brother Mick were coached by their father Don, who was also a coach to the British Olympic team. Don sadly died at the age of 55 in 1981.