Forgotten Glasgow lifesavers' 1900 Seine triumph when Olympic swimming last held in Paris river

Olympic swimmers are competing in the Seine for the first time since 1900 - the same year a team of Glasgow lifesavers became global champions in a largely forgotten feat on the Paris river.

Among the Olympians, Glaswegian Beth Potter won bronze in the women’s triathlon on Wednesday, which included a 1,500m swim in the Seine.

Her medal came 124 years after the Glasgow Humane Society won the World Lifesaving Championships, having been rescuing people from the Clyde for more than a century before that event. The championships were held during the Exposition Universelle in the French capital, weeks before the 1900 Paris Olympics, which featured swimming on the Seine. However, these were switched to swimming pools for the 1924 Olympics because the river had become too polluted.

Glasgow’s three-man team of lifesavers, crewing a specially-designed rowing boat, triumphed against counterparts from the United States, Australia, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Holland and Belgium.

George Parsonage, who retired as the society’s officer five years ago, said its victory in the competition, which was attended by some 12,000 paying spectators, had been “absolutely fantastic”.

He said: “It’s amazing that Glasgow set up the first practical lifesaving society in the world [in 1790] and the team proved themselves to be so good they won the world championships.

“One of the greatest aspects to it was the design of the boat, which could be rowed forwards or backwards. The planning that went into it was wonderful.”

Mr Parsonage, 80, said the boat was destroyed on the way home after being “accidentally” dropped, possibly by workers disgruntled by France not winning the competition. Only its seat and rowlocks survive, which are proudly displayed at Mr Parsonage’s home.

Former Glasgow Humane Society officer George Parsonage with the rowlocks of the boat that won the 1900 World Lifesaving Championships in Paris | John Devlin

He said the innovative design, by the society’s then officer George Geddes had inspired improvements to its boats, including those made by his own father, Ben Parsonage, who succeeded Mr Geddes.

The later boat, known as the Bennie, is at the Riverside Museum in Glasgow, while a new vessel was launched in 2021.

Mr Geddes competed with James Aitken and Gavin Meiklejohn, trainer to Queen’s Park Football Club, who Mr Parsonage said had won skiff, sculling and other rowing races at regattas on the River Clyde and Tyne.

He said: “In the final, the Scottish team got well away at the start and soon put four boats’ lengths between themselves and their nearest opponents”. Mr Parsonage said they went on to “so completely out-distance their rivals”.

They were presented with the Grande Medaille d’Or for the achievement.

Transport in Scotland is a key issue - get our specialist newsletter for the best updates Mr Parsonage said: “The unique thing about the boat was that the seat ran down the centre from bow to stern and the rowers sat astride.

Former Glasgow Humane Society officer George Parsonage with the seat of the boat that won the 1900 World Lifesaving Championships in Paris | John Devlin

“That the boat designed and built for the Paris Exhibition could be rowed as fast forwards as backwards was a unique idea at this time. At the competition the crew had to row to someone in the water, lift the person into the boat and row back. “

But Mr Parsonage said he was amazed the crew had the time to travel to Paris to compete, considering how busy they were in Glasgow. He said: “My father never had time to go away anywhere, so it’s remarkable they were able to go.”