John Besford
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 30 January 1911 Chorlton-cum-Hardy, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 26 February 1993 (aged 82) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Backstroke | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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John Charles Preston Besford, OBE (30 January 1911 – 26 February 1993) was an English competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics and European championships, and England in the British Empire Games, during the 1930s. Besford competed primarily in the backstroke.[1]
Biography
Besford was born in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Lancashire, England.[2] He studied dentistry at The University of Manchester,[3]
Besford competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics where he finished sixth in the 100-metre backstroke[4] and competed for the 1930 English team in the 100 yd backstroke event at the 1930 British Empire Games in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, winning a bronze medal.[5]
Besford was European 100-metre backstroke champion in 1934 and won the silver medal for England at the 1934 British Empire Games in London, both in the 100-yard backstroke event. In 1934 he was also a member of the English team which won the bronze medal in the medley relay contest.[5] Four years later he was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 100-metre backstroke.[4]
After serving as an officer in World War II, he taught dentistry at the University of Beijing, China. He later spent time in Yokohama, Japan, before returning to the UK to operate a dental practice in Brighton.[6] He was appointed to the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1975 New Year's Honours List for services to the British community of Tokyo.[7]
He died in Spain.[8]
See also
References
- ^ "Jack Besford (full name: John Charles Preston Besford)". Sports-Reference. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011.
- ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
- ^ "Restoring Manchester". Student Direct. 8 March 2004. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2008.
- ^ a b "Biographical information". Olympedia. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
- ^ a b "Commonwealth Games Medallists". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
- ^ "My Brighton and Hove: John Besford". Retrieved 17 April 2008.
- ^ "Supplement To The London Gazette of Tuesday, 31 December 1974". No. 46444. London Gazette. 31 December 1974. p. 18.
- ^ "Sport in Short: Swimming". The Independent. 10 March 1993. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
External links
- John Charles Preston Besford at the British Olympic Association at the Wayback Machine (archived February 3, 2010)
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