Douglas Welsh

In 1949, when aged 16, Douglas Welsh won the 100 yards freestyle boys title in the National Championships at Derby. He also won the Scottish and East of Scotland junior titles that year He won the East of Scotland 220 title in 1950 and 1951 and regained the 100 title in the second of those years. Welsh gained selection for the 1952 Helsinki Olympics after finishing third behind Jack Wardrop and Ronald Roberts in the ASA 100 yards final, and in the 220 was third again when fellow-Scot Wardrop won the title in a British record 2:11.2.

At the Helsinki Games, Welsh reached the 100 metres free semi-final, and also the 4x200 free relay semi-final along with Roy Botham, Ron Burns, and Wardrop. The quartet finished sixth. After the Olympics, Welsh and fellow Olympian Burns completed their National Service with the Royal Air Force (RAF), and were both stationed at RAF St. Athan, near Cardiff, and regularly took part in swimming galas and demonstrations in the area.

After the RAF, Welsh lived in Wakefield and in 1955 won the Yorkshire 100- and 220-yard freestyle titles. Welsh remained a British international until 1956 and was initially a candidate for that year’s Melbourne Olympics.

Welsh later moved to the Midlands and swam for Heath Town, near Wolverhampton, and in 1958 he broke Albert Wainwright’s 23-year-old Staffordshire 100 yards freestyle record. Welsh also played water polo and won representative honours with both the Birmingham League, and county honours with Staffordshire.