Roy Walsh

Roy Walsh was born and bred in the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. He started diving at the age of 12, but also had ambitions to be a footballer. He had a trial with his home-town team in 1953 but opted to pursue a diving career.

Despite Walsh showing early promise in 1949 by winning the Northern Counties springboard title, followed by the junior and senior men’s titles in 1950, there were several other fine British male divers around at the same time. Consequently, Walsh never won a senior ASA title, although he was runner-up to David Tarsey in the platform event in Olympic year, 1956.

At the time of the Melbourne Olympic trials, Walsh was ranked No.2 in Britain in the platform event and fifth in the springboard. He was selected for both disciplines but could only finish 20th and 24th respectively, admitting that the competition was too strong. At the time of The Games, Walsh was doing his National Service as a physical training instructor in the Army.

After the Olympics, Walsh joined an Aqua Show in Blackpool, which was a combination of swimming, diving and comedy, at which he once tried being a stand-up comedian.

In the mid-1960s the show moved to nearby Morecambe, where Walsh made his home for more than 50 years. He continued swimming into his 70s and was part of the welcome committee when the Olympic torch visited Morecambe prior to the 2012 London Games. Walsh was also a keen golfer and was a member of Morecambe Golf Club. He also enjoyed angling.