William Longworth (26 September 1892 – 19 October 1969) was an Australian

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

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 ...

who competed for

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

in the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

Personal

He was born in Rix's Creek,

Singleton, New South Wales Singleton is a town on the banks of the Hunter River (New South Wales), Hunter River in New South Wales, Australia. Singleton is 202km (126 mi) north-north-west of Sydney, and 70 km (43 mi) north-west of Newcastle, New South Wales ...

, and died in

Wahroonga, New South Wales Wahroonga is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 18 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of Ku-ring-gai Council and Hornsby Shire. N ...

Swimming

Longworth attended

Sydney Grammar School Sydney Grammar School (SGS, colloquially known as Grammar) is an independent, non-denominational day school for boys, located in Sydney, Australia. Incorporated in 1854 by an Act of Parliament and opened in 1857, the school claims to offer "c ...

, where he excelled in athletics, swimming, and rugby. In January 1911, he won the 1320-yard freestyle in world record time at the Australian Championship by 30 yards. He defeated Cecil Healy and

Frank Beaurepaire Sir Francis Joseph Edmund Beaurepaire (13 May 1891 – 29 May 1956) was an Australian distance freestyle swimmer from the 1900s to the 1920s, who won three silver and three bronze medals, from the 1908 Summer Olympics in London to the ...

. In 1912, he won all the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and Australian freestyle championships from 100 yards to one mile. In 1912, he qualified for the final of the

100-metre freestyle The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics, symbolizing the pinnacle of speed and athleticism in swimming competitions. The first swimm ...

, as well as for the semifinals of the 1500-metre freestyle, but due to illness he was unable to continue competing.

Military

Longworth enlisted in the

First Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main Expeditionary warfare, expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following United Kingdom of Great Bri ...

on 13 September 1915. He served in France from November as a sergeant with the Anzac Entrenchment Battalion. He represented the A.I.F. in swimming.

References

External links

William Longworth – Australian Dictionary of Biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Longworth, William 1892 births 1969 deaths Australian male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Australia Olympic swimmers for Australasia People educated at Sydney Grammar School Swimmers at the 1912 Summer Olympics Australian military personnel of World War I Sportspeople from Singleton, New South Wales Sportsmen from New South Wales 20th-century Australian sportsmen