Downstream

place in the first Bordeaux–
Paris bike race.
But a cycling accident,
which fractured his leg and
left him lame, forced him to
retire and, as with Annette
Kellerman, doctors advised
him to turn his attention to
swimming. ‘When I
recovered, my leg was very
stiff,’ he later wrote. ‘My
doctor said to me: “try
swimming, old chap; it may
benefit the limb.” I took his