Austin Rawlinson

Austin Rawlinson was a member of the famous Garston Swimming Club in Liverpool, noted for producing some of Britain’s best swimmers in the 1920s. He started his competitive swimming career at the age of 10 when he won freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke titles at the 1913 Garston Schools Gala. Despite his versatility, Rawlinson went on to specialise in the backstroke. He won the first of seven Northern Counties titles in 1921 and that same year was third in the 150 yards backstroke the ASA Championships. However, he won the title in 1922 and held it every year until 1927, when he finished third again. During that time he broke the British record three times, represented Britain at the 1924 Paris Olympics, and at the 1927 European Championships at Bologna.

A Liverpool policeman, Rawlinson was a member of the Liverpool City Police water polo team that reached the final of the national championships in 1931. He retired from the police force in 1951, having reached the rank of detective superintendent, but continued his involvement in local swimming and became president of the Northern Counties Association. He was coach to the British team at the 1958 European Championships and was involved in the 1960 Roma Olympics as manager of the British swimming team. The following year he was awarded the MBE for his services to swimming. In 1965 the swimming baths at Speke, near Liverpool Airport, were named in Rawlinson’s honour and more than 50 years later was still flourishing as the Austin Rawlinson Lifestyles Centre. In 1968 Rawlinson had the rare distinction of a former champion becoming president of the Amateur Swimming Association. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1994 as a pioneer swimmer/contributor. He wrote a swimming column for his local newspaper, the Liverpool Echo, until his nineties.