Sydney Battersby
Thomas Sydney Battersby was an English competition swimmer who represented Great Britain in freestyle events at two consecutive Olympic Games.
At the 1908 Summer Olympics hosted by London, he won a silver medal in the men's 1500-metre freestyle, finishing second with a time of 22:51.2, behind fellow Briton Henry Taylor, and ahead of Australian Frank Beaurepaire. He also advanced to the semi-finals in the 400-metre freestyle.
Four years later, at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, Battersby won a bronze medal as a member of the third-place British men's team in the [Swimming at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle swimming|freestyle relay|4×200-metre relay]. He also reached the semi-finals of the 400-metre freestyle and 1500-metre freestyle.
During his competitive swimming career, Battersby set four world records in freestyle events, including the 400-metre, 330-yard, 440-yard and one-mile distances. Battersby had a reputation for physical toughness; at the 1908 Olympics, he continued to swim at the end of the 1500-metre event – a shorter distance than the imperial mile – in an attempt to break the world record for the mile freestyle. He fell short of breaking the world record but did set a new British national mark.
He was born in Platt Bridge, near Wigan, Lancashire, England. He died in Sydney, Australia. He was posthumously inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 2007.