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 is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 193 ...

Biography

He was born in

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

. At the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

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 du ...

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 backstroke swimmers British male backstroke swimmers Olympic swimmers for 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 swimmers for Scotland Commonwealth Games gold medallists in swimming Commonwealth Games silver medallists in swimming Medallists at the 1930 British Empire Games Medallists at the 1934 British Empire Games 20th-century Scottish sportsmen {{UK-swimming-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links