Alexander Glegg Trophy comes home after 70 years
Have you ever lost something and written it off as gone forever? That was exactly how the SLSC felt about the Alexander Glegg Trophy, which was mentioned in newspaper articles and appeared in archive photos but had not been seen by anyone for decades.
The trophy – in the shape of a giant shield – was donated to the Club in 1906/07 by Alexander Glegg. He was a distinguished man who, as Mayor of Wandsworth, had formally declared the Lido open on 28 July 1906. He was also a very wealthy man – despite having arrived from Scotland with only £5 in his pocket – and was so keen on swimming that he offered to underwrite the building costs of the Lido should the funding arrangements fall through (they didn’t).
The SLSC, also dating back to 1906, invited Glegg to become their first President. He wanted his trophy to be awarded to the swimmer with the most points at the end of the summer season. It was usually presented at the AGM the following spring. The first winner was G. C. S. Sage, whose name can be seen at the top of the shield. He was Club Secretary and a founding member of the SLSC. The last winner was M. Norton who received the trophy in 1954 for his prowess the previous year.
After that, it disappeared without trace… until last November when an eagle-eyed member of the public spotted it on display, not in the UK, but in the USA! Extraordinarily, it was decorating the walls of a Ralph Lauren shop in Boston, Massachusetts. The Club was contacted via social media with the question: “Is this of interest to you?” Margy Sullivan of the SLSC quickly identified it as the long-lost Glegg Trophy.
It was decided to make an approach to Ralph Lauren to ask for its return – a task made easier by club member Rachel Ball who happened to work for the company in the UK. Their response was prompt and generous: yes, of course, we could have it back – they would ship it immediately.
The serendipity of the Club being reunited with the trophy – completely out of the blue – climaxed on Christmas Eve when it was delivered by DHL. It is, of course, the best Christmas present ever!
It’s a big beast of a shield: 70 cm (28 in) high, 61 cm (24 in) wide and weighing 10 kg (22 lb). It seems this is the reason it was retired from service in the 1950s. By then nearly half-a-century old, it was in a poor condition and the committee decided at a meeting on 14 February 1954 that it was of a “somewhat cumbersome nature” and should be replaced. A Mr C. Banfill stepped up with the offer of a new silver cup. So M. Norton must have known that he was the last winner of the Glegg Trophy and perhaps for that reason he was allowed to keep it. How it travelled from his Tooting (or nearby) home to the USA is not entirely clear but Ralph Lauren have told us that they acquired it “many years ago at an antiques fair.”
The shield has now been put on display in the Lido Pavilion. It was unveiled jointly by the Mayor of Wandsworth, Councillor Sana Jafri, and Alexander Glegg’s great-great grandson, Andrew Fitch, on Sunday 12 January. The Mayor said how “exciting” it was to be part of such an amazing story. Andrew added: “This is a wonderful present that’s been so graciously re-donated by Ralph Lauren. We’re really happy and proud as a family to be connected again with the swimming club.”
In a letter to the Club, Ashley Potter, Regional Chief Executive Officer of Ralph Lauren, said: “We are honoured to return the historic Alexander Glegg Trophy to its home at the South London Swimming Club … Preserving such artefacts is vital, and we are proud to support the shield’s return where its legacy can continue to inspire future generations.”
After 70 years away from home, the shield is in a rather battered state so the Club has applied to the Repair Shop on BBC1 to have it renovated and restored to its former glory. We think it’s a great story with a strong community appeal and are optimistic they’ll agree!
In the meantime, our heartfelt thanks go to Robert Pearson who took the trouble to contact us with a photo of the shield and to Ralph Lauren for so generously relinquishing an artefact that they themselves were proud to own.
Janet Smith
SLSC Archivist
