Paul Radmilovic
Radmilovic in 1909
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Paolo Francesco Radmilovic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | "Paul","Raddy" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team |
 Great Britain
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| Born |
5 March 1886 Cardiff, Wales |
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| Died | 29 September 1968 (aged 82) Weston-super-Mare, England |
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| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 76 kg (168 lb; 12.0 st) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle, water polo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Welsh Amateur Swimming Association Weston-super-Mare Water Polo Club |
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Medal record
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Paolo Francesco Radmilovic (5 March 1886 – 29 September 1968) was a Welsh water polo player and competitive swimmer of Croatian and Irish origin who represented Great Britain at four Summer Olympics. He won four Olympic titles in a 22-year Olympic career. He won four gold medals across three successive Olympic Games, a record which stood for a Great Britain Olympic athlete until broken by Sir Steve Redgrave when he won his fifth gold medal at Sydney in 2000. In 1928, he was the first person to compete for Britain at five Olympic Games, a record that would remain until surpassed by fencer Bill Hoskyns in 1976.
Radmilovic was born in the Tiger Bay area of Cardiff, Wales, the third son of Antun Radmilović, a native of Dubrovnik who relocated to Cardiff in 1860s and became the landlord of the Glastonbury Arms pub in Bute Street. His mother was born in Cardiff, the daughter of Irish immigrants. Radmilovics were also the landlords of the Bute Dock Tavern in Bute Street.
His paternal ancestors were from Makarska; grandfather from Makarska and grandmother from Dubrovnik were married and living in Dubrovnik.
Radmilovic made his debut for the Wales national water polo team at the age of 15 in 1901 and at the time was the youngest international player in the history of the sport. He competed in international swimming and water polo for nearly 30 years and was still an active swimmer well into his seventies. He was also a competent golfer and footballer.
He won his first Amateur Swimming Association title in 1907 when victorious in the open water 5 mile race in the River Thames. His noted versatility came to the fore two years later when he won the 100 yards freestyle. He won the English Long Distance Championships in 1907 and 1925, the latter at age 39. A year later, he won the English One Mile Championship at age 40. A reporter for the 'Swimming Times' wrote of his 1925 victory:
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