George Hodgson

George Ritchie Hodgson (12 October 1893 to 1 May 1983) was a Canadian competition swimmer of the early twentieth century, regarded by many as the greatest swimmer in Canadian history. At the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, at the age of eighteen, he won both the 400 metre and 1500 metre freestyle, the only events he entered there, setting world and Olympic records and crediting a trudgen stroke that blended front crawl and sidestroke. He was Canada's only Olympic swimming gold medallist until 1984. Born in Montreal, he studied at McGill University, flew with the Royal Naval Air Service in the First World War and was later inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and the International Swimming Hall of Fame. He also competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics.