Horace Davenport (29 April 1850 – 23 January 1925) was an English swimmer, known for endurance swims. In 1881, he also swam the

Niagara River The Niagara River () is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York (state), New York in the United States (on the east) ...

below

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

.(23 April 1925)
Famous Swimmer Dead: Horace Davenport Had Remarkable Sporting Record
''Montreal Gazette''(23 January 1925)

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' Davenport was born in London in 1850 to Cecilia and John Thistlewood Davenport. He swam at

University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_hea ...

, and also competed in rowing after leaving school. In 1874 he won the mile Amateur Championship swim, and successfully defended his title through 1879. His 1877 mile time of 29 minutes 25 seconds stood as a record for a number of years.Watson, Alfred E.T., ed
The Year's Sport: A Review of British Sports and Pastimes for the Year 1885
p. 472 (1886) He also won the amateur long distance championship (a five to six mile race) in 1877, 1878, 1879. In 1884 he swam a round trip from

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

in 5 hours and 25 minutes. He also served multiple times as captain of the Ilex swimming club. He became president of the Swimming Association of Great Britain (now the Amateur Swimming Association) in 1880, serving through 1883, and 1890 through 1894.History of the Amateur Swimming Association
sportcentric.com, Retrieved 29 July 2013The ASA Handbook
(2013) One-Mile Swim 1869

He also competed in the

plunge for distance The plunge for distance is a diving event that enjoyed its greatest popularity in the 19th and early part of the 20th century, even being included as an official event in the 1904 Summer Olympics.Kehm, GregOlympic Swimming and Diving p. 14 (2007 ...

and won competitions in that event in the 1870s and 1880s, including the 1884, 1885, and 1886 English Plunging Championships, and was also known for plunging feet first.Chemist & druggist, Volume 102
p. 156 ("In the 'seventies and 'eighties he held many championships, including one for a plunge of 67 ft. 4 in.")Sinclair, Archibald and Henry, William
Swimming
p. 405 (1916 edition)The Sportsman's year-book for 1880
p.104 Davenport was known for using a single-overarm stroke well-suited for long distance swims, as well as the side-stroke. As of 2013, three trophies offered by the A.S.A. remain in the name of Davenport, including for the 400 metre men's freestyle, 1,500 metre men's freestyle, and 100 metre girl's breastroke.

Personal

Davenport married Kathleen Henrietta Florence Pirie (1855-1935) in 1873, and they had five daughters and two sons,Smallbon, Jo-Anne and Davenport, Michael R.C
The Davenport Descendants of Thomas Davenport (1714-1768) of Evington in Leicestershire
p. 16 (2011) including

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

, who was a first-class cricketer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davenport, Horace 1850 births 1925 deaths English male swimmers Male long-distance swimmers World record setters in swimming