The Most Famous

SWIMMERS from United Kingdom

This page contains a list of the greatest British Swimmers. The pantheon dataset contains 709 Swimmers, 26 of which were born in United Kingdom. This makes United Kingdom the birth place of the 7th most number of Swimmers behind Japan, and Hungary.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary British Swimmers of all time. This list of famous British Swimmers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of British Swimmers.

1. Henry Taylor (1885 - 1951)

With an HPI of 51.51, Henry Taylor is the most famous British Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages on wikipedia.

Henry Taylor (17 March 1885 – 28 February 1951) was an English competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in four Summer Olympics between 1906 and 1920. Taylor served in the Royal Navy during the First World War, and continued to swim competitively until 1926. His fortunes declined after he retired, and he died penniless. His record of three gold medals at one Olympic Games – the most by any Briton – stood for 100 years until it was equaled by cyclist Chris Hoy in 2008. Tying the medal count of American Mel Sheppard, he was the most successful athlete at the 1908 Olympics.

2. John Derbyshire (1878 - 1938)

With an HPI of 47.58, John Derbyshire is the 2nd most famous British Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

John Henry "Rob" Derbyshire (29 November 1878 – 25 November 1938) was an English freestyle swimmer and water polo player from Chorlton, Lancashire, who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics (maybe), 1906 Intercalated Games, 1908 Summer Olympics and 1912 Summer Olympics. He and Alice Derbyshire founded swimming clubs in Hammersmith.

3. John Arthur Jarvis (1872 - 1933)

With an HPI of 46.97, John Arthur Jarvis is the 3rd most famous British Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

John Arthur Jarvis (24 February 1872 – 9 May 1933) was an English competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in three Olympic Games, and was a well-known amateur athlete of the late 19th century and early 20th century. He participated in Swimming at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris and won two gold medals in the 1000-metre and the 4000-metre freestyle events. He also won a gold medal in the water polo tournament. Jarvis was born in Leicester. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1968.

4. Irene Steer (1889 - 1977)

With an HPI of 44.82, Irene Steer is the 4th most famous British Swimmer. Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Irene Steer (10 August 1889 – 18 April 1977) was a Welsh freestyle swimmer. She is one of only six Welsh women who have won Olympic gold medals, the others being Nicole Cooke (cycling, 2008), Jade Jones (taekwondo, 2012, 2016), Hannah Mills (sailing 2016, 2020), Elinor Barker (cycling, 2016) and Lauren Price (boxing, 2020). In 1912, Steer won a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m relay and failed to reach the final of the individual 100 m race. Steer started as a breaststroke swimmer, but in 1908–1909 changed to crawl. After retiring from competitions she married William Nicholson, director and chairman of Cardiff City F.C. They had three daughters and one son.

5. Frederick Holman (1885 - 1913)

With an HPI of 44.71, Frederick Holman is the 5th most famous British Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Frederick Holman (9 February 1883 – 23 January 1913) was an English competitive swimmer from Dawlish, Devon, England. Holman represented Great Britain at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, where he won the gold medal in the men's 200-metre breaststroke event and did not compete in any other events. He died of typhoid fever in Exeter in January 1913, aged 29. He was married but had no children. Holman is an "Honor Swimmer" member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

6. Murray Rose (1939 - 2012)

With an HPI of 44.30, Murray Rose is the 6th most famous British Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Iain Murray Rose, (6 January 1939 – 15 April 2012) was an Australian swimmer, who swam for the University of Southern California, and worked as an actor, sports commentator and marketing executive. He was a six-time Olympic medalist (four gold, one silver, one bronze), and at one time held the world records in the 400-metre, 800-metre, and 1500-metre freestyle (long course). He made his Olympic debut at the 1956 Summer Olympics as a 17-year-old and won three Olympic medals, all gold. Four years later, as a 21-year-old, he won three Olympic medals (one gold, one silver, one bronze) at the 1960 Summer Olympics.

7. Belle Moore (1894 - 1975)

With an HPI of 44.06, Belle Moore is the 7th most famous British Swimmer. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Isabella "Belle" McAlpine Moore (23 October 1894 – 7 March 1975), later known by her married name Belle Cameron, was a Scottish competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics. At the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, Moore won a gold medal as a member of the first-place British women's team in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay, together with teammates Jennie Fletcher, Annie Speirs and Irene Steer. The British women set a new world record in the event of 5:52.8, beating the German and Austrian women's relay teams by a wide margin. Swedish King Gustav V presented Moore and her teammates with their gold medals and Olympic laurels. Moore was trained as a longer-distance swimmer, but only 100-metre swimming events were available for women at the 1912 Olympics; she was eliminated in the semi-finals of the women's 100-metre freestyle. At 17 years and 226 days old, she remains the youngest British woman to win an Olympic gold medal; she was also the only Scottish woman to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when Kathleen Dawson also won gold in the mixed 4 x 100 medley relay. Moore was born the eighth child of nine in her family. She started training at an early age and, by 17, already worked as a swimming instructor. In 1919, she married George Cameron, a naval architect; together, they moved to Maryland, United States, where Moore gave birth to a daughter, Doris, and son, George. She spent the rest of her life in Maryland where she taught swimming to thousands of children. She was posthumously inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Pioneer Swimmer" in 1989.

8. Jennie Fletcher (1890 - 1968)

With an HPI of 43.08, Jennie Fletcher is the 8th most famous British Swimmer. Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Jennie Fletcher (19 March 1890 – 17 January 1968), later known by her married name Jennie Hyslop, was a British competitive swimmer, Olympic gold medallist, and former world record-holder. In 1905 she set a new world record in the 100-yard freestyle that stood for seven years. She was selected for the 1908 Olympics, but the women's swimming events were cancelled due to a shortage of participants. At the 1912 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay and a bronze medal in the individual 100-metre freestyle race. In 1971 she was inducted to the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer". Fletcher was born in an underprivileged family of 11 siblings and had to combine swimming with daily 12-hour work. In 1913, she began teaching swimming in Leicester, which ended her competitive career as she turned from an amateur into a professional. In 1917, she married and immigrated to Canada, where she gave birth to a daughter and five sons.

9. Valerie Davies (1912 - 2001)

With an HPI of 42.27, Valerie Davies is the 9th most famous British Swimmer. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Elizabeth Valerie Davies (29 June 1912 – 2 August 2001), later known by her married name Valerie Latham, was a Welsh competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain at the 1932 Summer Olympics.

10. Lucy Morton (1898 - 1980)

With an HPI of 42.26, Lucy Morton is the 10th most famous British Swimmer. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Lucy Morton (23 February 1898 – 26 August 1980), later known by her married name Lucy Heaton, was an English competition swimmer who represented Great Britain at the 1924 Summer Olympics and won a gold medal in the 200-metre breaststroke event. Morton was born in 1898 at New Tatton in Cheshire; her father Alfred was in domestic service as a groom. The family moved to Blackpool, and by the age of ten, Morton had joined the local amateur swimming club. By 1920, Morton held the world record for the 200-yard breaststroke. In 1924, she was chosen to be part of the British team at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. Morton won the women's 200-metre breaststroke race and became the first British woman to win an Olympic gold medal for swimming in an individual (non-relay) event. At the time, she was working at the post office at St Annes. Blackpool council opened her local swimming baths so that she could train before and after work. On her return to the town, she was given a civic reception, where she was presented with the gift of a piano, and over ten thousand people lined the streets to greet her. Morton retired from competitive swimming after the Olympics and married Harry Heaton in 1927. She continued supporting swimming events for the rest of her life, serving as a competitors' steward when she was aged 72. She died in Blackpool in 1980. She was inducted posthumously into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Pioneer Swimmer" in 1988. A book based on her Olympic win and early life was published in June 2024, called Swim, written by Lisa Brace and published by Blue Pier Books. She is commemorated by a blue plaque on Blackpool Town Hall.

People

Pantheon has 68 people classified as British swimmers born between 1872 and 2004. Of these 68, 56 (82.35%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living British swimmers include Judy Grinham, Anita Lonsbrough, and Adam Peaty. The most famous deceased British swimmers include Henry Taylor, John Derbyshire, and John Arthur Jarvis. As of April 2024, 42 new British swimmers have been added to Pantheon including John Derbyshire, Irene Steer, and Belle Moore.