Henry Taylor (17 March 1885 – 28 February 1951 Retrieved on 28 August 2008.) was an English competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in four Summer Olympics between 1906 and 1920. Taylor served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

during the First World War, and continued to swim competitively until 1926. His fortunes declined after he retired and he died penniless. His record of three gold medals at one Olympic Games – the most by any Briton – stood for 100 years until it was equaled by cyclist Chris Hoy in 2008. Tying the medal count of American

Mel Sheppard Melvin Whinfield "Peerless Mel" Sheppard (September 5, 1883 – January 4, 1942) was an American athlete, member of the Irish American Athletic Club, and winner of four gold medals and one silver medal at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

, he was the most successful athlete at the 1908 Olympics.

Early life

Henry Taylor was born in Hollinwood in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

, Lancashire, on 17 March 1885 to James, a

coal miner Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

, and Elizabeth Taylor. Henry's parents died when he was young and he was raised by his older brother, Bill. Taylor learned to swim in the Hollinwood Canal, and practised in any water body he could find – baths, becks, canals, lakes, etc., including the Hollinwood Canal and Alexandra Park's boating lake. Austin Rawlinson, who was Taylor's friend and later president of

Amateur Swimming Association Swim England is the national governing body for swimming, diving, water polo, open water swimming, and synchronised swimming in England. It forms part of British Swimming, a federation of the national governing bodies of England, Scotland ( Scot ...

, recalled that Taylor "loved his swimming more than anything else in life". At the age of seven Taylor swam in his first race. Bill became his coach and Henry trained in the Oldham Baths, and from 1894 in the

Chadderton Chadderton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk and Rochdale Canal. It is located in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Oldham, south of Rochdale and north-east of Manchester. ...

Baths, often on the "dirty water days" because of cheaper admission. During this time he continued to train in the canal and when he got a job at a

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven b ...

, he spent his lunch times swimming in the canal. At 5'5" (1.65 m) and weighing , he wore a hand-woven silk swimming costume weighing about an ounce. Retrieved on 29 August 2008.

Career

Taylor came to attention after success with Chadderton Swimming Club. He was selected for the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens. Although he was not expected to win any medals, he eventually won gold in the one mile freestyle, a silver in the 400 m freestyle and a bronze in the 4×250 m freestyle. Later that year, Taylor broke the world record for . He was an automatic selection for the 1908 Summer Olympics. Harold Annison, Henry Taylor, Edward Percival Peter and Leslie Savage 1920

Harold Annison, Henry Taylor, Edward Percival Peter and Leslie Savage 1920

During the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, Taylor won gold medals in the three events in which he took part: the 400 m freestyle, the 4×200 m freestyle, and the 1500 m freestyle. He finished first in all of the races he took part in during the games bar one. After performing well in the heats of the 400 m freestyle, he finished second in the semi-final to Austrian Otto Scheff, who won the same event in the 1906 Intercalated Games. However, in the final Taylor finished 10 seconds ahead of the Austrian who won the bronze. The British press hailed Taylor as "Britain's Greatest Amateur Swimmer". He was the first man to hold the world record for the 1500 metres freestyle, a feat that he completed on 25 July 1908 in a time of 22:48.4 in London. His haul of three was the most gold medals won by any Briton at the Olympics. This feat was not repeated by any British participant in the Olympic Games for a century until Chris Hoy won three gold medals in

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from t ...

events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Four years later, Taylor was selected for the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. In the 4×200 m freestyle relay, he helped his team win bronze. There were no Olympic Games in 1916 because of the First World War. Taylor joined the Royal Navy in 1914 and kept fit by swimming around the ships when his ship was anchored at Scapa Flow. He was present at the Battle of Jutland. A popular story tells that during the course of the battle, his ship, HMS ''St. Vincent'', was sunk and while the survivors waited for two hours to be rescued, Taylor swam around encouraging his crewmates. However, this story is probably a myth as HMS ''St Vincent'' was not sunk at the Battle of Jutland. He was transferred to HMS ''Ramillies'' where he remained until he was

demobilised Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...

. After the war, Taylor returned to swimming. He took part in the

Morecambe Bay Morecambe Bay is a large estuary in northwest England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second larges ...

Race, winning eight times over a period of 20 year and at one point held the record. Taylor attempted to emulate Matthew Webb in swimming across the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

but failed due to bad weather. He annually took on the French champion, swimming in the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

and the

River Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

and winning on every occasion. Taylor's last appearance in the Olympic Games was at Antwerp, Belgium, in 1920 when he again helped the 4×200 m freestyle relay team to a bronze medal.

After swimming

Taylor continued swimming competitively into his 40s until he retired in 1926. He also played

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

for England. During his career he won over 35 trophies and 300 medals. He suffered a setback when the

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

, the Nudger, he owned in

Dobcross Dobcross is a village in the civil parish of the Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It is in a valley in the South Pennines, along the course of the River Tame and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, ...

was closed due to financial difficulties. Taylor became an attendant at Chadderton Baths. To raise money, Taylor was forced to sell most of his prizes. He died in obscurity aged 65 on 28 February 1951, at lodgings in Brierley Street, Chadderton, he was penniless and unmarried. He was cremated and his remains were scattered at

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

Cemetery. The trophies Taylor won were collected and temporarily displayed at Chadderton Baths. In 1969 he was posthumously inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the s ...

. In 2002, a blue plaque was unveiled at Chadderton Baths commemorating his swimming achievements. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China,

Rebecca Adlington Rebecca Adlington (born 17 February 1989) is a British former competitive swimmer who specialised in freestyle events in international competition. She won two gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 400-metre freestyle and 800-metre ...

became the first British swimmer to win more than one gold medal at a single Olympic Games since Taylor won three in 1908. Retrieved on 28 August 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Henry 1885 births 1951 deaths English Olympic medallists English male freestyle swimmers World record setters in swimming Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Olympic swimmers of Great Britain Sportspeople from Oldham Royal Navy personnel of World War I Swimmers at the 1906 Intercalated Games Swimmers at the 1908 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1912 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1920 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1906 Intercalated Games Olympic gold medalists in swimming

Early life

Career

After swimming

See also

References