Full name William Henry Name William Henry Club London Leander SC | Sport Swimming National team Great Britain Role Swimmer | |
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Born 28 June 1859 ( 1859-06-28 ) St Pancras, London, England Died March 20, 1928, St Pancras, London Strokes Freestyle swimming, Water polo | ||
William Henry (28 June 1859 – 20 March 1928), born Joseph Nawrocki, was an English competitive swimmer and lifesaver who represented Great Britain in international competition.
He was of Polish ancestry, and changed his original Polish surname Nawrocki to the English "Henry". He died in the Pancras district of London at aged 68. He was a co-founder of the Royal Life Saving Society. As a swimmer he won a number of national and European championships. In 1906, at 46, he became the oldest ever Olympic medal winner in swimming as a member of the British men's 4×250-metre relay team which won the bronze medal. He won a gold medal in the 1900 Summer Olympics for Water Polo.
Henry is an International Swimming Hall of Fame inductee. He was the swimming instructor for the British Royal Family, using the swimming pool at the Bath Club, Dover Street. He helped to formalise the rules of water polo. With Archibald Sinclair (1866–1922), he wrote a book on swimming for the Badminton Library.