Hailing from West Ham, Charles Bugbee was a City of London policeman, and was a fine swimmer in his younger days. At the age of 19 he took part in the 1907 English Long-Distance Swimming Championship on the River Thames. Having turned to water polo, Bugbee, along with Paul Radmilovic and Charles Smith, were the three members of the Great Britain team that competed at the 1912, 1920, and 1924 Olympics, and were dual gold medal winners in the first two of those years. Bugbee continued playing water polo beyond his 40th birthday and in 1927 helped Middlesex reach the final of the English County Championship, where they went on to beat Lancashire.
During World War I, Bugbee served with the Royal Naval Air Service between 1915-18. After ending his police career, he worked as a gatekeeper for the Bank of England.
Great Britain