Rona Tong

Born in Hastings on 22 August 1916, McCarthy was the daughter of funeral director Charles Oswald Tong and Florence Susannah Tong (née Jarden).[1] She was educated at Hastings High School and then worked in the dressmaking trade.[1] On 7 November 1939 she married Leslie James McCarthy at St Matthew's Church, Hastings, and the couple went on to have one daughter.[1]

She won the New Zealand national 80 yards hurdles title in 1937,[2] and went on to represent her country in the same event at the British Empire Games in Sydney the following year.[3] She finished third in the final, 0.1 seconds behind the winner, Barbara Burke from South Africa.[1] Competing in the 100 yards sprint at the same games, McCarthy finished last in her heat and did not progress.[4]

McCarthy represented Hawke's Bay in both netball and basketball and was selected to play for New Zealand.[5] However, planned internationals against Australia never took place.[5] She coached both netball and basketball for almost 40 years, and was made a life member of the Hastings Netball Umpires' Association in 1967.[1][5] She later took up lawn bowls, and served as president of the Kia Toa Bowling Club in Hastings.[1]

In the 1979 Queen's Birthday Honours, McCarthy was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to sport, especially netball.[6] She was inducted into the Hawke's Bay sporting legends hall of fame in 2007.[7]

McCarthy was widowed by the death of her husband in 1993.[1] She died in Havelock North on 31 January 2016,[1] and was buried at Hastings Cemetery.[8]