William Steuart

William "Billy" Steuart was born on 28 August 1936 in Johannesburg. He married local girl Gail Schleicher, and later moved to Davis, California, where he died in April 2022.

Billy won the 440-yard freestyle at the 1954 South African Championships in Port Elizabeth, and in 1955 in Pretoria he won the 220, 440 and 1650-yard events, placing second in the 100-yard freestyle. The next year at the SA Championships in Durban he made a clean sweep - winning all of the freestyle events. He moved to the USA in 1957 to study and swim at the University of Michigan.

In the NCAA Championships, he achieved a remarkable double by winning and defending both the 440 and 1500m yard freestyle events in 19658 and 1959. In 1961 the University of Michigan awarded Billy the Chester Brewer Leadership Award (Presented to a graduating senior in his or her last year of eligibility for distinguished performance in athletics and scholarship and for possessing a high degree of leadership qualities and skill.)

He competed in three events at the 1956 Summer Olympics, where his best result was 8th place in the 4x200 freestyle relay.

He finished third in the 4 x 220 yards freestyle relay (with Dennis Ford, Graham Johnston, and Peter Duncan), fourth in the 1650 yards freestyle and sixth in the 440 yards freestyle at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.

Billy competed in Masters swimming, holding numerous US records and winning All-American awards.