Lindsay Nylund was born in Western Australia and commenced gymnastics at age eleven. His achievements as a gymnast include three junior and two senior Australian national all-around titles, All-American honours as a member of the Arizona State University Men's Gymnastics Team, and representing Australia at World Championships and Commonwealth and Olympic Games. He won a silver medal in the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada, which was the first individual international medal for Australia in gymnastics.

Lindsay's school gymnastics coach in Western Australia was Hungarian-born Physical Education teacher Akos Kovacs. Before immigrating to Australia, Akos was detained as a political prisoner following the Second World War. While being transported by train to a labour camp, Akos decided escape would be a better option than the labour camp. This required jumping from a moving train. Akos gives an account of this incident in the book Akos Kovacs: an Hungarian-Australian Odyssey, by David Mason-Jones (1997):

In all my years at Christ Church Grammar School, I never once told a boy that gymnastics might enable him to jump, handcuffed, from a moving train in a totalitarian state. Nevertheless, let me now state categorically: one of the benefits of good gymnastic training is to enable you to jump, handcuffed, from a moving train in a totalitarian state! Only my gymnastic ability saved me. I tucked instinctively into a ball and tried to roll with the momentum rather than resist. I caught the downward slope of the embankment and rolled end over end for an age before coming to rest.

Following his success as a gymnast, Lindsay coached gymnasts from beginner to international level, including numerous state and national champions in both men's and women's gymnastics. He was appointed head coach of the WA Institute of Sport Men's Gymnastics Program which was recognised as the most successful junior men's gymnastics program in Australia over a number of years. His achievements have been recognised by Gymnastics Australia with an athlete Award of Distinction, an athlete Roll of Honour and a Coach of the Year Award.