1908 Summer Olympics

Kati JõgiSaaremaa Co-Educational Gymnasium

Form 10A

1908 Summer Olympics

The host city for 1908 Summer Olympics was London The opening ceremony took place April 27 and

closing ceremony October 31 It was officially opened by King Edward VII 1971 men and 37 women participated 22 nations participated There were 110 events in 22 sports Stadium was White City Stadium

Medal count

The most medals were won by the host nation Great Britain – 146

56 of them were gold, 51 silver and 39 bronze The next country was the United States who had 47

medals 23 of them were gold, 12 silver and 12 bronze medals

Henry Taylor

Henry Taylor was one of the 56 men who won a gold medal for Great Britain

The medals were won for 1500m freestyle men swimming, 400m freesyle men swimming and 4*200m freestyle relay men swimming

Taylor's early life

Was born in the Hollinwood area of Oldham, in Lancashire, on 17 March 1885.

Learned to swin in the Hollinwood Canal, and practised in Alexandra Parks's boating lake

Swam his first race at the age of 7 His older brother Bill became his coach

Taylor's career

Won a gold medal in the one mile freestyle, silver in the 400m freestyle and a broze in 4*250m freestyle in the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens

In the 1908 Olympics Taylor won medals in each of the three events in which he took part: the 400 m freestyle, the 4×200 m freestyle, and the 1500 m freestyle

The British press hailed Taylor as “Britain's Greatest Amateur Swimmer”

Four years later he was selected to go to Stockholm for the 1912 Summer Olympics

Henry Taylor during the First World War

Taylor served in the Royal Navy during the First World War and kept fit by swimming around the ships when his ship was anchored at Scapa Flow

Was present at the Battle of Jutland

Taylor after the war

Took part in the Morecambe Race, winning eight times over a period of 20 year and at one point held the record

Attempted to emulate Matthew Webb in swimming across the English Channel but failed due to bad weather

He annually took on the French Champion, swimming in both River Thames and the River Seine and winning on every occasion

Taylor's last appearance in the Olympic Games was at Antwerp, Belgium, in 1920

Taylor after swimming

Continued swimming competitively into his 40s until he retired in 1926

During his career he won over 35 trophies and 300 medals

He died in obscurity aged 65 on 28 February 1951, in Chadderton Lancashire

He was cremated and his remains were scattered at Rochdale Cemetery

The reminiscence of Henry Taylor

Reference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Taylor_(swimmer)

http://www.chadderton-hs.freeuk.com/page8-fav-pe.htm

Thank you for your attention!