On this Week in Sport and Leisure History ~ 1890s

9^th -Born on this day in 1893 – Hungarian fencer – Gyula Glykais.  Gyula was of Greek descent and started fencing when a student at Budapest University Athletic Club in 1912. In 1923 he became a member of the Hungarian national team. His major achievements with the sabre came after he joined Szolnok TIVC in 1927. In 1927 he was placed third in individual sabre at the unofficial World Championships. He competed at the 1928 Olympics, bringing home a team sabre gold and was World Champion with the team in 1930 and 1931 and in the individual sabre in 1929.    

 

In 1930, Gyula won the European Military Championships in both individual and team events and repeated this success in 1931. However, he won only one Hungarian title, in 1927 team sabre. He repeated his gold medal achievement at the 1932 Olympics. After his fencing career, he became chief county auditor and head of the Szekszárdi Municipal Audit Office He died at the aged of 55 on 12^th June 1948 in Szekszárd

 

10^th -British 400m athlete Cyril Norman Seedhouse was born in Leighton Buzzard today in 1892. A member of Blackheath Harriers, he won 4x400m relay bronze at the 1912 Olympics, alongside teammates – George Nicol, Ernest Henley and James Soutter. He also took part in the 200m and 400m events reaching the semi-finals.

 

In 1913 he equalled Mel Sheppard’s 500yards world record – this was an officially recognized distance at that time. A qualified dentist by trade he was the amateur quarter-mile champion when he joined the Royal Engineers as a motor cycle despatch rider in 1914. Later he came a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps and, although shot in the back, he succeeded in bringing his plane home after a dogfight with two German Fokker aircraft.

In 1930 there was some altercation with his wife while at Hoole Farm, Balbeggie, Perthshire, he as accused of being in possession of an automatic revolver, for which he didn’t hold a licence and was further accused of assaulting his wife Elspeth, knocking her to the ground as well as assaulting her sister, after an argument over the whereabouts of their son Billy. Elspeth further testified that Cyril has previously threatened her with the revolver, stating that there were times when he “seemed quite mad”.  Cyril was found guilty of assault and bound over for six months.  The couple were divorced later that year.

He later married for a second time and conducted a dental practice in Nottingham, he died at the age of 73 in Exminster, Devon on 21^st January 1966.

 

11^th-German water-polo player Karl Barne was born in Hanover on this day in 1899. He was affiliated to SV Wasserfreunde 98 Hanover in his hometown.  Karl played as part of the German gold medal-winning water polo team at the 1928 Amsterdam Games. He was the leading scorer at that edition of the Olympics with his tally of eight.

 

He played 33 international matches, placing second at the 1934 Europeans, and third in 1926. With his club Wasserfreunde 98 Hannover Karl won the German national title in 1921-23, and 1927. Willi and Richard, his brothers, were also water polo players in Hannover. Willi was briefly a national team member and took part in some pre-season games for the Olympics in Amsterdam. Karl died aged 60 on 14^thJanuary 1960 in Hannover.

 

12^{th –} American shooter Raymond Orville Coulter, born in Hadley, Illinois in 1897, competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics, where he won the gold medal as member of the American team in the team free rifle event and the bronze medal in the team running deer, single shots competition. He also too part in the team running deer (double shot) event – placing 5^th and the individual competition coming 9^th and finished 17^th in the individual running deer – single shot.

Ray was a career Marine corpsman, and was a gunnery sergeant at the time of the 1924 Olympics. Enlisting in 1917, he had earned his distinguished marksman badge from the corps in 1919. In 1918, 1919, 1922, and 1923 he was a member of the Marine team which won the NRA rapid-fire rifle team event. He also competed internationally several times in addition to the Olympics, notably at the 1924 Pan-American Matches, and the Internationals of 1924, 1925, and 1927. He died on 23^rd January 1965 in Mount Sterling, Illinois, aged 67.

 

13^th-John Alan Campbell, British rower was born today in Armadale, Victoria, Australia in 1899. Campbell was educated at Melbourne Grammar School and after moving to Great Britain, Jesus College, Cambridge. He was affiliated to the Leander Club and rowed for Cambridge in the Boat Race in 1920. In 1920 he was a crew member of the British boat, which won the silver medal in the eights at the Summer Olympics.  In 1921 he rowed in the Boat Race again and won Silver Goblets at Henley Royal Regatta partnering non-Olympian Humphrey Playford.  He died relatively young, aged 39, in Drysale, Australia on 20^th February 1939.

 

 14^{th –} Charles Courant, Swiss freestyle wrestler, was born on this day in 1896. At the 1920 Olympics, he injured his ankle in the semi-finals and couldn’t fight with full force in the final, leaving him with the silver medal. Four years later in 1924 he won the bronze medal by default due to the withdrawal of all his potential opponents.

He was also successful in the Swiss wrestling style – Schwingen. He later became a founding member of the Vaud Association of Gymnasts and Wrestlers He also served as a leader with the Vaud Athletic Association and was a member of the Swiss Wrestling Federation. He died aged 86 in Montreux, Switzerland on 26^th June 1982.

 

15^th – Olympic swimmer Gunnar Isidor Sundman was born in Stockholm, Sweden today in 1893. He competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in the 100m backstroke, but failed to reach the final, he swam for his local club Stockholms KK but nothing much more is known about his swimming career in his native country. He later emigrated to the United States where he settled near Redding, California. 1912 and continued to swim in meets and later served in WWI and worked as an engineer with the California Department of Transportation. He swam for the Piedmont Swimming club and at one time was the Pacific coast breaststroke champion. He died on 20^th july 1946 in Redding, California aged 53.