Ernest Walmsley

Because of the lack of competitive springboard diving events at the time, Ernest Walmsley contented himself with performing exhibitions at galas around the country as he proved himself a leading exponent at this form of diving. He lived at Selby in Yorkshire at the time of the 1920 Olympics, and practiced on a makeshift board on the River Ouse, which he constructed himself. With the lack of a professional springboard in Selby, however, Walmsley moved to Sheffield in 1921 where the local Glossop Road Baths had such a facility.

Having failed to reach the springboard final at the 1920 Antwerpen Olympics, Walmsley was hoping for a chance to rectify that situation at Paris four years later when he was one of four men selected for the final Olympic trial at Blackpool, but it was Eric MacDonald and Gregory Matveieff who got the call-up for the two places at Paris.