Aquatics at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

Aquatics at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Venue	Empire Pool
Location	University of British Columbia, West Point Grey, Vancouver, Canada
Dates	30 July – 7 August 1954
←  1950 1958  →

The Empire Pool on UBC's West Point Grey campus,
Attribution:Province newspaper

Aquatics at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games made its fifth appearance at the Commonwealth Games, with both Swimming at the Commonwealth Games and Diving at the Commonwealth Games being included again. Water Polo at the Commonwealth Games was dropped from the schedule and would not return until 2002.

There were four diving events and 13 swimming events contested. ^{[1] [2]}

The choice of swimming venue suffered from budgeting issues and a bid by Los Angeles-based Paddock Inc. came in at $140,000 less than the Beaver Construction's tender of $440,719. There were suggestions to rebuild the 1928 Nicola Street Crystal Pool before the Games committee decided that the University of British Columbia (UBC) would benefit from a new $300,000 open air pool. ^[3]

The pool was constructed on UBC's West Point Grey campus. ^[4]

Australia topped the medal table with seven gold medals. ^[5]

Medal table

Diving at the Empire Pool.
Attribution:Province newspaper

  *   Host nation (Canada)

Medals won by nation with totals, ranked by number of golds—sortable

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Australia	7	3	4	14
2	South Africa  (SAF)	3	3	3	9
3	Scotland	3	1	3	7
4	England	1	4	4	9
5	Canada  (CAN)*	1	4	1	6
6	New Zealand	1	2	2	5
7	Wales	1	0	0	1
8	Bermuda	0	0	0	0
	Hong Kong	0	0	0	0
	Jamaica	0	0	0	0
	Northern Ireland	0	0	0	0
Totals (11 entries)		17	17	17	51

Medal winners

Diving

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
3m Springboard (M)	Peter Heatly  (SCO)	Tony Turner  (ENG)	Jack Stewart  (NZL)
10m Highboard (M)	Bill Patrick  (CAN)	Kevin James Newell  (AUS)	Peter Heatly  (SCO)
3m Springboard (W)	Ann Long  (ENG)	Barbara McAulay  (AUS)	Irene MacDonald  (CAN)
10m Highboard (W)	Barbara McAulay  (AUS)	Eunice Miller  (ENG)	Ann Long  (ENG)

Swimming

Men's events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
110 yd freestyle	Jon Henricks  (AUS)	Cyrus Weld  (AUS)	Rex Aubrey  (AUS)
440 yd freestyle	Gary Chapman  (AUS)	Jack Wardrop  (SCO)	Graham Johnston  (SAF)
1650 yd freestyle	Graham Johnston  (SAF)	Peter Duncan  (SAF)	Gary Chapman  (AUS)
110 yd backstroke	John Brockway  (WAL)	Lincoln Hurring  (NZL)	Cyrus Weld  (AUS)
220 yd breaststroke	Jack Doms  (NZL)	Peter Jervis  (ENG)	Alan Hime  (ENG)
4×220 yd freestyle relay	Australia David Hawkins Gary Chapman Jon Henricks Rex Aubrey	Canada Allen Gilchrist George Park Gerald McNamee Ted Simpson	South Africa Dennis Ford Graham Johnston Peter Duncan Billy Steuart
3×110 yd medley relay	Australia Cyrus Weld David Hawkins Jon Henricks	New Zealand Frederick Lucas Jack Doms Lincoln Hurring	Scotland Jack Wardrop John Service Robert Wardrop

Women's events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
110 yd freestyle	Lorraine Crapp  (AUS)	Virginia Grant  (CAN)	Joan Harrison  (SAF)
440 yd freestyle	Lorraine Crapp  (AUS)	Gladys Priestley  (CAN)	Margaret Girvan  (SCO)
110 yd backstroke	Joan Harrison  (SAF)	Pat Symons  (ENG)	Jean Stewart  (NZL)
220 yd breaststroke	Elenor Gordon  (SCO)	Mary Morgan  (SAF)	Margaret Grundy  (ENG)
4×110 yd freestyle relay	South Africa Felicity Loveday Joan Harrison Machduldt Petzer Natalie Myburgh	Canada Beth Whittall Gladys Priestley Helen Stewart Virginia Grant	England Daphne Wilkinson Fearne Ewart Jean Botham Valerie Nares-Pillow
3×110 yd medley relay	Scotland Helen Gordon Margaret McDowell Margaret Girvan	South Africa Joan Harrison Machduldt Petzer Mary Morgan	Australia Jann Grier Judith Knight Lorraine Crapp

Finals (men)

^[6]

3m springboard

Jack Stewart of New Zealand winning a bronze medal
Attribution:Province newspaper

Pos	Athlete	Pts
1	Peter Heatly	146.76
2	Tony Turner	145.27
3	Jack Stewart	144.98
4	Kevin James Newell	141.04
5	Bernard D. Valois	137.97
6	Bill Patrick	135.48
7	Frank Mercer	124.74

10m Platform

Bill Patrick of Canada winning gold.
Attribution:Province newspaper

Pos	Athlete	Pts
1	Bill Patrick	142.7
2	Kevin James Newell	142.06
3	Peter Heatly	141.32
4	Peter Tarsey	140.56
5	Tony Turner	138.31
6	Terrence Connelly	110.78

110y freestyle

Pos	Athlete	Time
1	Jon Henricks	56.5
2	Cyrus Weld	58.5
3	Rex Aubrey	58.7
4	George Park	59.1
5	Cheung Kin Man	59.9
6	Barrington Roper	1:00.2

440y freestyle

Pos	Athlete	Time
1	Gary Chapman	4:39.8
2	Jack Wardrop	4:41.5
3	Graham Johnston	4:43.3
4	Peter Duncan	4:48.6
5	Gerald McNamee	4:51.6
6	Billy Steuart	4:52.1

1650y freestyle

Start of a swimming event.
Attribution:Province newspaper

Pos	Athlete	Time
1	Graham Johnston	19:01.4
2	Peter Duncan	19:22.1
3	Gary Chapman	19:28.4
4	Billy Steuart	19:28.6
5	Donald Bland	20:02.7
6	Gerald McNamee	20:07.9

110y backstroke

Pos	Athlete	Time
1	John Brockway	1:06.5
2	Lincoln Hurring	1:06.9
3	Cyrus Weld	1:08.6
4	Lin Meiring	1:09.2
5	Bert Wardrop	1:09.9
6	Haydn Rigby	1:10.7

220y breaststroke

Pos	Athlete	Time
1	Jack Doms]	2:52.6
2	Peter Jervis	2:52.6
3	Alan Hime	2:52.8
4	David Hawkins	2:53.3
5	John Service	2:53.9
6	Robert Gair	2:56.0

4x220y freestyle relay

Pos	Athlete	Time
1	Hawkins, Chapman, Henricks, Aubrey	8:47.6
2	Gilchrist, Park, McNamee, Simpson	8:56.0
3	Ford, Johnston, Duncan, Steuart	8:56.3
4	Bland, Rigby, Roberts, Jervis	9:17.6

3x110y medley relay

Pos	Athlete	Time
1	Weld, Hawkins, Henricks	3:22.0
2	Lucas, Doms, Hurring	3:26.6
3	Wardrop J, Service, Wardrop R	3:27.3
4	Rigby, Roberts, Jervis	3:27.8
5	Park, Anderson, Simpson	3:28.3
6	Devlin, Fletcher, Laverty	3:45.2

Finals (women)

3m springboard

Pos	Athlete	Pts
1	Ann Long	128.26
2	Barbara McAulay	127.74
3	Irene MacDonald	126.19
4	Charmian Welsh	121.54
5	Jeannette Laws	104.26
6	Lois Wood	89.64

10m Platform

Pos	Athlete	Pts
1	Barbara McAulay	86.55
2	Eunice Miller	79.86
3	Ann Long	79.53
4	Jeannette Laws	61.34
5	Lois Wood	55.16

110y freestyle

Empire Pool, Vancouver.
Attribution:Province newspaper

Pos	Athlete	Time
1	Lorraine Crapp	1:05.8
2	Virginia Grant	1:06.3
3	Joan Harrison	1:08.2
4	Marrion Roe	1:08.9
5	Machduldt Petzer	1:09.0
6	Natalie Myburgh	1:09.4

440y freestyle

Pos	Athlete	Time
1	Lorraine Crapp	5:11.4
2	Gladys Priestley	5:19.6
3	Margaret Girvan	5:21.4
4	Machduldt Petzer	5:21.5
5	Natalie Myburgh	5:23.0
6	Beth Whittall	5:27.3

110y backstroke

Pos	Athlete	Time
1	Joan Harrison	1:15.2
2	Pat Symons	1:17.4
3	Jean Stewart	1:17.5
4	Lenora Fisher	1:18.2
5	Margaret McDowall	1:18.8
6	Maureen Pitchfork	1:19.0

220y breaststroke

Pos	Athlete	Time
1	Elenor Gordon	2:59.2
2	Mary Morgan	3:03.3
3	Margaret Grundy	3:04.5
4	Jann Grier	3:13.4
5	Margaret Stangroom	3:18.0
6	Margaret Peebles	3:20.5

4×110y freestyle relay

Pos	Athlete	Time
1	Loveday, Harrison, Petzer, Myburgh	4:33.9
2	Whittall, Priestley, Stewart, Grant	4:37.0
3	Wilkinson, Ewart, Botham, Nares-Pillow	4:41.8

3×110y medley relay

Pos	Athlete	Time
1	Gordon, McDowell, Girvan	3:51.0
2	Harrison, Petzer, Morgan	3:52.7
3	Grier, Knight, Crapp	3:55.6
4	Botham, Grundy, Pitchfork	3:56.4
5	Fisher, Stangroom, Grant	3:57.5

References

1. "Commonwealth Games Medallists - Swimming and Diving (men)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
2. "Commonwealth Games Medallists - Swimming and Diving (women)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
3. "The Mega-event that Set a Pace for Vancouver". The Tyee. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
4. "Wednesday at the BEG". Vancouver Sun. 3 August 1954. p. 14. Retrieved 20 September 2025– via Google Newspapers.
5. "Medal Standings 1950". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
6. "Swimming" . Birmingham Daily Post. 7 August 1954. p. 23. Retrieved 25 September 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.