Mixed doubles has returned to the Olympic tennis program in 2012, ending the 88-year Olympic mixed doubles gold medal “reign” of two-time U.S. singles champion Dick Williams, a survivor of the sinking of the Titanic 100 years ago.
Williams won Olympic gold in the mixed doubles competition at the 1924 Olympics in Paris with Hazel Wightman, defeating fellow Americans Vincent Richards and Marion Jessup in the final. Tennis was subsequently taken off the Olympic program until 1988 with mixed doubles returning as a medal competition at the 2012 Games.
The survival of Williams from the Titanic disaster 100 years ago – and his triumph two years later at the U.S. Championships – is narrated in the book TITANIC: THE TENNIS STORY by Lindsay Gibbs.
Gibbs told the OLYMPIC NEWS SERVICE that Williams was very close to pulling out of the mixed doubles competition in 1924 due to injury.
“During his run to the gold medal he actually tore a ligament in his ankle,” Gibbs said to the OLYMPIC NEWS SERVICE. “He wanted to withdraw from the competition, but his teammate Wightman refused. She told him that if he covered the net she would run everything down on the baseline. Clearly, the strategy was effective and he always attributed the win to her.”
TITANIC: THE TENNIS STORY ($12.95, New Chapter Press, available here: http://www.mailermailer.com/rd?http://www.amazon.com/dp/0942257626?tag=tennisgrancom-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0942257626&adid=1VDNE7FP6P2ERTBCKQ49&&ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennisgrandstand.com%2F) narrates the tale of Williams and his fellow American tennis player Karl Behr, who both survived the most famous and talked about sea disaster in 1912. The two met on the rescue ship Carpathia and went on to become teammates on the U.S. Davis Cup team and, incredibly, faced each other in the quarterfinals of the 1914 U.S. Championships (the modern-day US Open.)
Williams nearly had his legs amputated after surviving hours in the frigid water, hanging on to a collapsed lifeboat after jumping from the sinking ship. Behr first asked his girlfriend Helen Newsom to marry him on the Titanic and survived by luck – allowed into the second lifeboat before passengers realized the gravity of the event.
“He wasn’t on the operating table or anything, but it (amputation) was certainly the suggested treatment,” Gibbs said to the OLYMPIC NEWS SERVICE. “When he first got onto the Carpathia he was fed breakfast and had a sip of brandy then found a spot in the kitchen of the Carpathia between the stove and wall to take a nap.
“When he woke up he was in immense pain with his legs and he hobbled to find a doctor. All the official doctors on the Carpathia were busy, but he came across a passenger who practiced medicine.
“He was advised, in a rather cheery manner he recalled, to have his legs amputated. He asked if there were any other options and the man suggested that he could attempt to walk through the pain. So he did – and it worked.”
Williams, whose father was killed on the Titanic, became a star at Harvard, a two-time U.S. singles champion (1914, 1916) and a Wimbledon doubles champion in 1920 in addition to winning his Olympic mixed doubles gold in 1924. He was a long-time resident of Philadelphia and passed away in 1968. Behr, from New York, was a standout player at Yale and a Wimbledon doubles finalist in 1907. He passed away in 1949.
The book is the first novel for Gibbs, originally from Greensboro, North Carolina, now a resident of New York. She has also written a screenplay based on her book.
TITANIC: THE TENNIS STORY is also available for download on Amazon.com’s KINDLE here: http://www.mailermailer.com/rd?http://www.amazon.com/Titanic-The-Tennis-Story-ebook/dp/B0087GZGTO/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1343825273&sr=1-1
Founded in 1987, New Chapter Press (www.NewChapterMedia.com) is also the publisher of “Roger Federer: Quest for Perfection” by Rene Stauffer (www.RogerFedererBook.com), “The Bud Collins History of Tennis” by Bud Collins, “The Education of a Tennis Player” by Rod Laver with Bud Collins, “The Wimbledon Final That Never Was” by Sidney Wood, “Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion’s Toughest Match” by Cliff Richey and Hilaire Richey Kallendorf (www.CliffRicheyBook.com), “The Greatest Tennis Matches of All Time” by Steve Flink, “Jan Kodes: A Journey To Glory From Behind The Iron Curtain” by Jan Kodes with Peter Kolar, “Tennis Made Easy” by Kelly Gunterman, “On This Day In Tennis History” by Randy Walker (www.TennisHistoryBook.com), “A Player’s Guide To USTA League Tennis” by Tony Serksnis, “Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games” by Tom Caraccioli and Jerry Caraccioli (www.Boycott1980.com), “The Lennon Prophecy” by Joe Niezgoda (www.TheLennonProphecy.com), “Bone Appetit, Gourmet Cooking For Your Dog” by Susan Anson, “How To Sell Your Screenplay” by Carl Sautter, “The Rules of Neighborhood Poker According To Hoyle” by Stewart Wolpin, “People’s Choice Guide Cancun” by Eric Rabinowitz, “Lessons from the Wild” by Shayamal Vallabhjee among others.