Paul Radmilovic

Paolo Francesco Radmilovic (5 March 1886 – 29 September 1968) was a Welsh water polo player and competitive swimmer. Radmilovic had Croatian and Irish origins. He represented Great Britain at four Summer Olympics. He won four Olympic titles in a 22-year Olympic career. He won four gold medals across three successive Olympic Games, a record which stood for a Great Britain Olympic athlete until broken by Sir Steve Redgrave when he won his fifth gold medal at Sydney in 2000. In 1928, he became the first person to compete for Britain at five Olympic Games, a record that would remain until surpassed by fencer Bill Hoskyns in 1976.

Early life and family Radmilovic was born in the Tiger Bay area of Cardiff, Wales, His mother was born in Cardiff, the daughter of Irish immigrants.

Swimming career Radmilovic made his debut for the Wales national water polo team at the age of 15 in 1901 and at the time was the youngest international player in the history of the sport. He competed in international swimming and water polo for nearly 30 years and was still an active swimmer well into his seventies. He was also a competent golfer and footballer.

He won his first Amateur Swimming Association title in 1907 when victorious in the open water 5 mile race in the River Thames. His noted versatility came to the fore two years later when he won the 100 yards freestyle. He won the English Long Distance Championships in 1907 and 1925, the latter at age 39. A year later, he won the English One Mile Championship at age 40. A reporter for the 'Swimming Times' wrote of his 1925 victory:

Until last year he had never held the 1 mile championship of England, but at the East India docks he had quite a comfortable win. "Raddy" believes in careful and systematic training so that before the race, he has some idea as to what the final result would be. Before the mile championship, he is credited with saying: "I shall beat 24 minutes, 30 seconds." He won easily in 24.22. How many of the younger generation could demonstrate such judgment of pace over a distance?

In all he won nine titles over a 19-year span at a variety of distances. His victories at the Welsh national championship took place over an ever-greater timespan. A 100 yards title at the age of 15 in 1901 and a 440 yards victory at the age of 43 in 1929 book-ending his career.

Olympic career His Olympic career began as a swimmer at the 1906 Intercalated Games where he finished 4th in 100 metres freestyle and 5th in the 400 metres event. In the 1 mile event he did not finish.

In 1908 he won a gold medal as part of the British water polo team that defeated Belgium 9–2 in the final. Radmilovic scored twice in the final. Two days later he was drafted into the 4×200 metre relay squad when another swimmer withdrew due to illness and swam the second leg of a dramatic race. Hungary appeared to be cruising to victory when anchor leg swimmer Zoltán Halmay began to lose consciousness in the water. Halmay struggled to the finish but Henry Taylor had touched four seconds earlier to give the British victory. Radmilovic also competed in three individual freestyle events but failed to make a final.

He ran the Imperial Hotel in Weston-super-Mare, England for many years,

A blue plaque was unveiled by the Mayor of Weston-super-Mare, Cllr Alan Peak, and Paulo Radmilovic's grandson, Simon Siddall on the wall of The Imperial, South Parade, Weston-super-Mare on 30 March 2017.