Thomas William Burgess

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Thomas William Burgess (1911)

Thomas William "Bill" Burgess (born June 15, 1872 in Rotherham , † July 5, 1950 in Paris ) was a British swimmer . He was the second person to swim the English Channel .

Thomas William Burgess was the son of Alfred Burgess, a blacksmith, and his wife Camilla Peat, a cook. In 1882 Alfred Burgess took on the contract to manufacture tires and wheels for the Earl of Shrewsbury and moved to London ; probably the son was apprenticed to him. Bill Burgess was later sent to Paris to open a bike and tire shop for the Earl near the Porte d'Asnières , which he ran successfully and became wealthy. In Paris, Burgess became a member of the Libellule de Paris swimming club . He married a French woman and stayed in Paris for the rest of his life. In 1941 he was interned by the German occupiers in Frontstalag 142 in Besançon from June to November .

Burgess learned to swim at the age of five after his uncle threw him into the sea on vacation on the Isle of Man . In 1900 he took part in the Olympic Games in Paris for his home country , in three swimming disciplines and in water polo with a French team. He finished fourth over 4000 meters freestyle , fifth over 200 meters back and over 1000 meters freestyle he gave up the race. Together with the team of his club Libellule de Paris , he won the bronze medal in water polo.

Bill Burgess achieved great fame in 1911 when, after 13 unsuccessful attempts since 1904, he was the second person to swim across the English Channel after Matthew Webb in 1875 . It took 22 hours and 35 minutes. In 1926 he was the trainer of Gertrude Ederle , who was the first woman to swim the canal. The following year he was one of the founding members of the Channel Swimming Association (CSA) together with Montague Holbein .

For his canal crossing, Burgess was honored with a golden trophy that was on display in the Old Westminster Public Baths in London for many years . A bronze bust of him stood in a now demolished swimming pool in his hometown of Rotherham, whose nose was shiny because it was the custom of school children to rub their towels on it to protect against drowning. The bust can now be seen in the local Clifton Park Museum .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Thomas William Burgess. The remarkable story of a Yorkshireman who touched fame and lived life to the fullest. In: derbyburgess.ca. August 28, 1924, accessed September 28, 2015 .
  2. ^ About the CSA - Channel Swimming Association. In: Channel Swimming Association. November 7, 2015, accessed September 27, 2015 .
  3. ^ Rotherham Channel Swimmer, Thomas William Burgess. (No longer available online.) In: rotherhamweb.co.uk. September 7, 1911, archived from the original on September 24, 2015 ; accessed on September 28, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rotherhamweb.co.uk
  4. ↑ Swimmer's lucky bust on display - The Star. In: The Start. July 23, 2010, accessed September 28, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Burgess, Thomas William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Burgess, Bill (short name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British swimmer and swim coach
DATE OF BIRTH June 15, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH Rotherham
DATE OF DEATH 5th July 1950
Place of death Paris