On This Day In History - When Bill Smith Added The 200 WR To His Pantheon
Timeline - The SOS Daily Trawl of official World long-course records (plus all pre 1954 standards, all pools and metrics) set this day throughout history.
On this day, February 12, in 1944, Bill Smith, who already set global standards at all distance from 400 yards and metres up to the mile, set a 200 standard four years out from double gold at London 1948:
Bill Smith - Hawaiian Legend Who Made Water & Swimming His Home
Bill Smith is a ripe example of perseverance paying off: he might have been Olympic champion in 1940 or 1944 but WWII halted those Games - so he stuck with it to 1948, and left London with two gold medals, two Olympic and the last of his eight World records in the pantheon
Craig Lord
