Tony Phillip Summers (3 January 1924 – 21 November 2013) was a British competition swimmer and Olympian. He was born in Newport, South Wales, the son of Edwin Charles Summers. His grandfather was the bonesetter A. E. Kennard. From an early age he was a well-known figure in Newport Swimming Club, becoming known as Tony the Diver and featuring in a 1930 British Pathè film. During World War II, Summers joined 136 Squadron RAF in 1944 (later 152 Squadron) and flew

Spitfires The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

and Tempests in India and the Far East. On his release from the RAF in 1947, Summers started training for the London Olympics of 1948. He had originally aimed to swim in the Olympics of 1940 and 1944, but war had intervened. He represented Great Britain for Men's 100 Metre Backstroke, where his heat was won by the eventual gold medallist,

Allen Stack Allen McIntyre Stack (January 23, 1928 – September 12, 1999) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. Stack won the gold medal in the men's 100-meter backstroke at the 1948 Summer Olympics in L ...

. Summers worked as an engineer for the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

and for British Nuclear Fuels, before joining the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

where he became Commissioning Engineer for Wales. He continued to swim competitively until shortly before his death and achieved many Welsh and British records in older age groups. Summers died on 21 November 2013. He was survived by his daughter and two grandchildren.

References

External links

* http://www.britishpathe.com/video/the-diver
Tony Summers at Sports Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Summers, Tony 1924 births 2013 deaths Welsh male swimmers British male backstroke swimmers Olympic swimmers for Great Britain Swimmers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Newport, Wales Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Military personnel from Newport, Wales