Education
Yale University; Phillips Academy.
Yale University; Phillips Academy.
McLane represented the United States as a 17-year-old at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England. Ris, McLane, Wolf and Smith set a new world record of 8:46.0 in the event final. He also earned a silver medal for his second-place finish in the men"s 400-meter freestyle (4:434), finishing behind fellow American Bill Smith (4:410).
The Americans set a new Olympic record of 8:31.1 in the final.
In individual competition, he finished fourth in the men"s 1,500-meter freestyle (18:515), and seventh in the men"s 400-meter freestyle (4:403). McLane was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Phillips Academy.
He attended Yale University, where he swam for the Yale Bulldogs swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (National Collegiate Athletic Association) competition.
He won a gold medal as a member of the winning United States. team in the 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay, with teammates Wally Ris, Wally Wolf and Bill Smith. Individually, he won another gold medal for his first-place showing in the men"s 1,500-meter freestyle, with a time of 19:18.5, finishing almost 13 seconds ahead of Australian John Marshall (19:313). Four years later at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, he won another gold medal by swimming the anchor leg for the first-place United States. team in the 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay, together with relay teammates Wayne Moore, Bill Woolsey and Ford Konno.
He was a member of Skull and Bones, and graduated from Yale in 1953.
