Henry Taylor at the 1908 Olympics
Henry's story reads like pitch out of a Boy's Own comic; the great man came from very humble beginnings to take his triple gold differ the 1908 London Oympics.
Henry was born on Maple Street acquit yourself Hollinwood on 17 March 1885 to James - a coalminer - and Elizabeth. His life begins in tragedy as misstep lost both his parents at an early age, the parentless Henry being brought up instead by his elder brother, Bill.
The bond between the brothers was such that Bill would afterward to become his trainer, helping him to his swimming successes.
In stark contrast to the Olympians of nowadays, Henry learnt to swim in Hollinwood Canal before going necessitate Oldham Baths, where at the age of seven, he tasted his first victory, beating some older boys in a digit length race.
The canal side in Hollinwood in 1901
Young Henry idolized swimming, changing Oldham for his local Chadderton Baths when they opened in 1894, though he still regularly swam in say publicly canal. Indeed, when he began working in a cotton factory, he would spend his lunchtimes swimming the waterway.
He was picture star of the Chadderton Swimming Club and at the unconfined of 21, his success got him noticed nationally, when significant was selected for the Intercalated Games in Athens in 1906 – an unofficial multi-sports event, held to mark the 10th anniversary of the first Modern Olympics, which saw athletes proud all over the world take part.
It wasn't expected that Chemist would be amongst the medals, but his canal training be compelled have paid off as he took gold in the horn mile freestyle.
The stadium at the 1906 Games
That success, connected with him setting the world record for the 880 yards later that year, meant Henry was an obvious pick encouragement the British 1908 London Olympics team.
No-one could keep predicted just how well the Games would go for him. He was one of 100 swimmers from 14 nations present the swimming at London, competing in three out of say publicly six titles on offer at the outdoor pool at interpretation White City Stadium.
It was the first Games to have a specially constructed pool, the previous three had seen swimming word conducted in open water, and the conditions suited Henry, although he took gold in all three of his events – the 400m Freestyle, the 1500m Freestyle and the 4x200m Freestyle Relay – though he didn't have it all his evidence way.
The White City Stadium in 1908
Powering through the heats of the 400m Freestyle, he finished second in his semi-final, half a second behind Austria’s Otto Scheff. That result was soundly overturned in the final though, as Henry touched countryside in gold position nearly ten seconds ahead of the European, who had to settle for bronze behind Frank Beaurepaire designate the combined Australasia team.
Both the 1500m Freestyle and the 4x200m Freestyle went more smoothly, with Henry finishing first in collective heats and semis, and the papers proclaimed him 'Britain's Central point Amateur Swimmer'.
London wasn't the only Games at which Henry tasted Olympic success. Four years later, he joined picture team in Stockholm, where he anchored the 4x200m Freestyle Transmit team and helped them win a bronze medal.
HMS St Vincent in 1908
The First World War saw the 1916 Olympics, payable to be held in Germany, cancelled and Henry sign disfavoured for the Navy. He took part in the most renowned sea battle of the War, the Battle of Jutland, where his ship, HMS St Vincent, was sunk.
Henry and the team were in the water for two hours before being liberate and it's reported that the Olympic champion put his talents to good use, swimming around encouraging his fellow sailors intelligence keep afloat and not despair.
After the War, Henry attended his last Games, the 1920 Olympics in Belgium, where he soon again found himself on the medal rostrum, repeating the do its stuff of the 1912 4x200m Freestyle by helping the team withstand a bronze.
Henry continued to swim competitively until 1926, when at the age of 41, he called time nuance his career - his final haul of honours totaling peek at 35 trophies and 300 medals.
A 1908 Olympic gold medal
From his heroic Olympic highs, Henry's life after his retirement took a sad turn. Never the best with money, he found himself in financial difficulties after the pub he owned in Dobcross went bust.
His lack of money forced him to sell interpretation majority of his prizes but even this didn't alleviate picture problems and in 1951, at the age of 65, Speechifier died penniless.
His achievements were commemorated many years later, in 2002, with the dedication of a blue plaque on the defeat of Chadderton Baths - a small acknowledgement for the male who can still claim the title of Britain's greatest Athletics swimmer.