Georges Rigal

Georges Rigal’s family came to Paris from the department of Aveyron in Southern France. He went on to win two French championships, the 1,500 metres freestyle in 1910 and 100 metres free in 1911. In the latter year, Rigal set French records in the 100 and 200 metres free with times of 1:13.4 and 2:55.8 respectively. Consequently, he was selected to represent his country at the 1912 Olympic Games. Although he placed second in his heat of the 100 metres freestyle to qualify for the quarter-final, he did not start. He also missed out on the longer distances, but was a member of the French water polo team.

Rigal is reputed to have been the first French swimmer to adopt the crawl style. In 1918, he placed second in the Christmas Cup, an annual race across the Seine in Paris. His water polo career, however, was more successful. With the Libellule de Paris team he won four French championships. Twelve years after the Stockholm Olympics Rigal returned to the Olympics as a member of the French water polo team, winning gold at Paris 1924.

After his active career, Rigal worked as a timber merchant but continued to be involved in water polo. In 1936, he coached the French team at the Berlin Olympics and acted as a referee at the first two Olympics after World War II. Rigal became president of the French Swimming Federation from 1959-64. A swimming pool in the 11th arrondissement of Paris is named in his honour.