William Wilson (13 November 1844 – 1 June 1912) was a late 19th-century British journalist, swimming instructor and coach, contributor to the scientific techniques behind competitive swimming, and originator of the game of

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 ...

. In 1883, Wilson published "The Swimming Instructor," one of the first books on swimming to define modern concepts of stroke efficiency, training, racing turns and water safety.

Water polo

In 1877, Wilson drew up a set of rules for a team water ball game, which he called "aquatic football". The first game took place between the banks of the River Dee at the Bon Accord Festival in

Aberdeen, Scotland Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeenshire, but is now separate from the council area of Aberdeenshire. Aberd ...

. Flags were placed eight or ten feet apart on the shore and players used a soft ball of

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, called a ''pulu''. The game was a wrestling match from end to end of the field of play but was popular with the spectators of the aquatic festivals of the era. Wilson had developed the sport while Baths Master at the

Arlington Baths Club Arlington Baths Club is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit member-run swimming club in Glasgow. The Arlington Baths Club was the first swimming club in Glasgow and is located in a purpose-built Listed building#Scotland, Category A Listed Buil ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. In 1885, the Swimming Association of Great Britain, recognized the game, now called

, and formulated a set of rules expanding on Wilson's rulebook. These eventually became the basis of FINA international rules, as the sport spread to Europe, America and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Lifesaving

In 1891, Wilson published a number of illustrated newspaper articles on

lifesaving Lifesaving is the act involving rescue, resuscitation and first aid. It often refers to water safety and aquatic rescue; however, it could include ice rescue, flood and river rescue, swimming pool rescue and other emergency medical servic ...

drills and awarded prizes to local swimming clubs for proficiency in lifesaving techniques. Wilson's methods circulated in the form of a handbook, and in recognition of his contribution, he was elected the first Life Governor of the Royal Lifesaving Society.

References

External links

*
Profile of William Wilson's Contributions to Swimming Techniques, by Cecil Colwin (1999)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, William 1844 births 1912 deaths Scottish male journalists Sports inventors and innovators British water polo coaches History of water polo Scottish sports coaches