Graham Symonds

Graham Henry Symonds (21 March 1937 – 2 June 2006) was an English swimmer who competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Graham Symonds

Personal information
Born	(1936-03-21)21 March 1936 Coventry, England
Died	2 June 2006(2006-06-02) (aged 70) Essex, England
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Event(s)	Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Freestyle
Club	Coventry SC
Medal record Swimming Representing  England British Empire & Commonwealth Games 1958 Cardiff 220y butterfly 1958 Cardiff medley relay Representing  Great Britain European Championships 1958 Budapest 200 m butterfly

Biography

Symonds was born in Coventry and studied at the Coventry Art School. He was first coached by his father Sid Symonds, a semi-professional football player. ^{[citation needed]}

At the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Symonds represented Great Britain in the 200 metres butterfly event but did not reach the finals.^[1] He did however win a bronze medal in the 200 metres butterfly at the 1958 European Aquatics Championships.^[2]

In May 1958 he took part in the Empire Games trials in Blackpool^[3] and subsequently represented the English team^[4] at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales. He competed in the 220 yards butterfly, event, winning a silver medal and helped England claim the bronze medal in the final of the men's 4 x 110 yards medley relay, with Graham Sykes, Christopher Walkden and Neil McKechnie.^[5][6]

He won the 1954 ASA National Championship 440 yards freestyle title^[7] and the 220 yards butterfly title in 1955.^[8]

After retiring from swimming he worked at the technical publications department of the Armstrong Siddeley's aircraft division.^{[citation needed]} He then designed tractors at Massey Ferguson, worked for Chrysler Rootes, and in 1967 joined Ford.^{[citation needed]} In the 1980s–90s he worked in Dearborn, Michigan, US, designing medium and large trucks, such as Ford Transit.^{[citation needed]} During that time he also competed in masters swimming. He returned to UK in 1998 to assume the post of assistant director of design of small and medium Ford vehicles at Dunton Wayletts, Essex. He retired in 2002 and died in 2006 in Essex, leaving wife Ina and children Heather, Brett and Andrea and brother Robert Bruce Symonds.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• List of Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming (men)