William Henry

William Henry was the founder of the Royal Life Saving Society in 1891. He became the honorary secretary and in 1904 the Society’s good work was recognised by King Edward VII and was granted a Royal Charter with the King as its patron. William Henry was born Henry William Nawrocki. His Prussian-born father served in the Crimean War, and his mother was a nurse with Florence Nightingale. Henry lived in Prussia for a while as a youngster before returning to England. Shortly after getting married in 1883 he changed his name by Deed Poll to William Henry.

Henry joined the Zephyr Swimming Club in 1879 and won many championships, including the Long-Distance Championship in 1890. He was also a keen water polo player and was involved in the formulation of the sport’s rules in the late-1890s, and in 1900 was in goal for the gold-medal-winning Osborne Swimming Club at the Paris Olympics. A member of the Leander Club at the time, Henry was co-opted to the Osborne Club for the Olympics. Henry also took part in swimming and life-saving events at the Paris Games. When he won a bronze medal in the 4x250 metres relay at the 1906 Intercalated Games at Athens, Henry was aged 46 years 305 days and became the oldest Olympic swimming medallist – a record he still holds going into the 2028 Games.