
Jon Baddeley
Specialist Consultant Collectors, Science & Marine
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Specialist Consultant Collectors, Science & Marine
William Eric Louis Seward (1891-1975)
Born in Melbourne, the son of a wine merchant, he spent his youth in France and Ireland. An active sportsman, Seward was chosen, at the age of 16, to represent England in the 100 metres backstroke, where he was eliminated in the heats. A severe motor accident in 1912 injured his lungs and terminated his Olympic career, but in 1915 after rejection by the Army and inspired by his French flying cousins, he learned to fly and was accepted by the Royal Flying Corps, on the condition he served in a hot climate. By 1916 he was serving in Palestine. Engaged on combat and surveying duties, he utilised his Olympic skills to successfully swim six miles after ditching in the sea, and then walking thirty miles in the nude to safety.
1908 was the first time the backstroke was represented in the Games. Twenty-one swimmers competed, from eleven nations, with England fielding a team of seven, one of whom, Herbert Haresnape, won the Bronze medal.