George Ritchie Hodgson (October 12, 1893 – May 1, 1983) was a Canadian competition

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 ...

of the early 20th century, and considered by many to be the greatest swimmer in Canadian history. Hodgson won the two longer

freestyle swimming Freestyle is a category of swimming competition, defined by the rules of the International Swimming Federation (FINA), in which competitors are subject to a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races are the most commo ...

gold medals at the 1912 Olympics, the only categories in which he competed. He also competed at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

Personal life

George Hodgson was born in 1893 in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

. He matriculated at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Univer ...

in 1912, competing in swimming and

water polo Water polo is a 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 ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with th ...

for the school. While there, he was admitted to the

Zeta Psi Zeta Psi () is a collegiate fraternity. It was founded in June 1, 1847 at New York University. The organization now comprises fifty-three active chapters and thirty-four inactive chapters, encompassing roughly fifty thousand members, and is a ...

fraternity, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in applied science in 1916. He was inducted into the

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (french: Panthéon des sports canadiens; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada ...

in 1955, 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 stu ...

in 1968, into the McGill University Sports Hall of Fame in 1996, and died in Montreal in 1983. Several members of George Hodgson's extended family were also involved in Canadian sports. His uncles Billy and Archie Hodgson were prominent athletes with the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association in the 1880s and 1890s, playing both ice hockey and lacrosse with the organisation. Archie Hodgson was a member of the first

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

winning team in 1893, the same year George Hodgson was born.

International career

George Hodgson, Canada's only Olympic gold medal winner in swimming until 1984, did not stay in competition very long. He won two gold medals at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, with times of 5:24.4s in the 400-metre and 22:00.0s in the 1500-metre freestyle. He had already set a world record of 22:23.0 in the first round of the race. He was eighteen at the time and retired immediately after one of the great races of all time. His unprecedented success was widely attributed to his innovation of the trudgen stroke, a hybrid between the front crawl and sidestroke. It was for the 1500 meter Olympic championship and Hodgson broke world and Olympic records for 1000 yards and meters, and 1 mile in addition to the prescribed 1500 meter race distance. His Olympic record at 400 meters stood until 1924 when Johnny Weissmuller broke it at Amsterdam. He was Canada's lone swimmer in 1912.

World War I Service

During World War I Hodgson served as a pilot in the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

(RNAS). He was appointed Probationer Flight Sub-Lieutenant, Ottawa on 18 January 1916, and was stationed at Chingford, then Felixstowe from 16 June 1916, where he carried out anti-submarine patrols, flying Felixstowe F2A flying boats. He was promoted to Flight Lieutenant on 30 June 1917. On 1 June 1918 he was posted to Southeast Area (service no. R 184192), and then from 18 August 1918 was pilot of Porte Baby 9810 (large flying boat) at Lerwick, Shetland, while serving at Houton Seaplane Station, Orkney. On 2 October 1918 he was posted to No.210 Training Depot Station and to Shorncliffe on 10 January 1919. He moved to the unemployed list on 22 January 1919.

Decorations

During the war Hodgson received a number of decorations: *Board of Trade Silver Medal for Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea, awarded on the recommendation of the President of the Board of Trade, announced in The Aeroplane, 27 March 1918; with F/Lt James Lindsay Gordon, Leading Mechanic (E) Sydney Francis Anderson, and Wireless Telegraphist (A.M.II) Bertram Harley Millichamp, ‘in recognition of their services in rescuing two men from an upturned float in the North Sea on May 29th last.’ Award effective 29 May 1917; presented at Buckingham Palace, 4 September 1918. *

Mention in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

, London Gazette 1 October 1917. (As

Flight Lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior Officer (armed forces)#Commissioned officers, commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) RAF officer ranks, system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. I ...

George Ritchie Hodgson, RNAS). for patrol duties in home waters. * Air Force Cross, London Gazette 2 November 1918. (As Capt. George Ritchie Hodgson, RAF).

Records

Olympic records

*1912 gold (400 m freestyle) *1912 gold (1500 m freestyle) Fastest freestyle mile in the 1911 Festival of Empire Games (now the

Commonwealth 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 ex ...

)

References

External links

* – Honor Swimmer profile at International Swimming Hall of Fame
George Hodgson Class of 1916
– Athlete profile at McGill University's Hall of Fame

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodgson, George 1893 births 1956 deaths Anglophone Quebec people Canadian male freestyle swimmers World record setters in swimming McGill University Faculty of Engineering alumni Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic swimmers of Canada Swimmers from Montreal Swimmers at the 1912 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1920 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming McGill Redmen players Recipients of the Sea Gallantry Medal Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)