Jack Taylor

Despite winning the Northern Counties mile title five times between 1924-29, the half-mile title twice, the Mersey Mile Championship eight years in succession and many other Merseyside titles, Jack Taylor was never an ASA champion. He finished second to fellow Southport Victoria swimmer Jack Hatfield in the 1924 ASA Mile Championship and was again second to Hatfield in the 1927 440 yards salt water championship. Taylor was third in 1925 when Paul Radmilovic won the title, and was runner-up again in 1930, this time to Norman Brooks.

A joiner by trade, Taylor served in the Army in World War II and shortly after being recruited, had to, amusingly, undergo a swimming test. Needless-to-say, he passed! Taylor was also a fine water polo player and in a career spanning nearly 20 years he scored approximately 1,000 goals, and played for England five times between 1928-34. Taylor retired in 1939, and was elected onto the executive committee of the Northern Counties Amateur Swimming Association, a position he held continuously until 1962 when he failed to gain re-election. He was also a swimming coach to the Southport Victoria team.