William Francis (23 February 1911 – April 1997) was a Scottish competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

and

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

specialist who represented Great Britain in the Olympics and competed for Scotland in the

British Empire Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

Biography

He was born in

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

. At the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

in Amsterdam, he was eliminated in the semi-finals of the men's 100-metre backstroke event. Four years later at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

in Los Angeles, he was eliminated in the first round of the men's 100-metre backstroke. At the 1930 British Empire Games he won the silver medal in the 100-yard backstroke contest. Four years later at the Empire Games in Sydney he won the gold medal in the 100-yard backstroke. He was also a member of the Scottish team which won the silver medal in the 3×110-yard medley relay. He also participated in the 1938 Empire Games but was unplaced in the 110-yard backstroke contest.

References

External links

sports-reference.com
1911 births 1997 deaths Sportspeople from Dunfermline Scottish male swimmers Male backstroke swimmers Olympic swimmers of Great Britain Swimmers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1932 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1930 British Empire Games Swimmers at the 1934 British Empire Games Swimmers at the 1938 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Scotland Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Scotland Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming {{UK-swimming-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links