On This Day In History - When Wardrop Took Down Konno's World 200 Mark
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....
4 March, 1955: Great Britain and Scotland's Jack Wardrop broke Ford Konno's World 200 freestyle mark by 0.5sec in 2:03.4, a year after the American had taken the standard below 2:04 for the first time, by 0.1sec, in the same pool in Columbus.
And in 1915, Australian Fanny Durack, the first female Olympic champion in history three years earlier, set the inaugural world record in the 200 freestyle.
Jack, The Olympic Wardrop Twin Who Broke A World Record
On 4 March 1955, Jack Wardrop broke Ford Konno’s World 200 free mark a year after the American had set the standard in the same pool in Columbus. Wardrop was a pupil of Motherwell Bathsmaster David Crabb, who guided 10 Olympians in his time, including Jack’s twin, Bert
Craig Lord
What A Week That Was For Pioneers Durack, Wylie & Great Britain’s 4x100 Free Quartet
“We swam only after working hours and they were 12 hours and six days a week. We were told bathing suits were shocking and indecent, and even when entering competition, we were covered with a floor-length cloak until we entered the water.” - Jennie Fletcher, Olympic champion 100 years ago
Craig Lord
