Swimming in My Blood: A Tribute to a Family’s Olympic Heritage

By Sami Robertson, Founding Director of Harwood Advisory

The Olympics have been in my blood all my life. My passion for swimming ingrained into me since childhood.

My Great Grandmother, Alice ‘Nanty’ Ayres was an Essex swimming champion. Living to the ripe old age of 104, her stories ignited my interest, love, and dedication to open water swimming.

My Great Grandfather, William Benjamin Lovely, was the coach of the GB Water Polo Team as London hosted the XIV Olympiad in 1948. As well as the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki.

Bill (who we affectionately called Bubups) represented England as a player – and as captain between 1927-29. After retiring, he became Chief Coach of the GB team. Earlier in his swimming career, Bill had been one of five to form the inaugural water polo committee for the Amateur Swimming Association.

He played for and captained Plaistow United, arguably England’s best water polo club of his generation. He was a teammate and friend of Ted Temme, the famous English Channel and Olympic swimmer – who became the first to successfully complete a solo swim of the English Channel both ways, from England, and from France.

A respected athlete and revered mentor, Bill gave everything to further the sport of water polo across the British Isles. He even wrote the rule book. And given that it has been described as ‘the world’s toughest team sport’, those rules were vital.

Sadly, I never got to meet this legend. A few months after retiring as England coach due to ill-health, he passed away at the impossibly young age of 53 on 16 July 1953, whilst on holiday on the Isle of Wight.

His words of wisdom, however, live on – and are still incredibly relevant to this day. They are words that I live by, and share with my own children as they embrace their own sporting passions:

“Whilst it must be conceded that the objective is a good game, there is firmly implanted in every player a desire to be on the winning side. Desire is one thing and Resolve is another.” Bill Lovely

I’ve said many times that swimming has given me so much. It has ultimately shaped the values that I hold dear, and on which I have built Harwood Advisory. The bond between swimmers is so strong. It has built some lifelong friendships – some of which have become longstanding clients, having experienced some wonderful moments together. For that, I will always hold these family pictures close – along with my very own Olympic Water Polo hero.