John Besford

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.

Biography Besford was born in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Lancashire, England. He studied dentistry at The University of Manchester,

Besford competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics where he finished sixth in the 100-metre backstroke 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.

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. 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.

He died in Spain.