Wayne State University Athletics

Men's Swimming & Diving 4/30/2020 3:00:00 PM Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

TURN BACK THE CLOCK - Bill Prew 1940s Swimming

As we continue our Turn Back the Clock feature, we will look back at some of the most significant events in Tartar/Warrior history.

In this segment of "Turn Back the Clock," we highlight national champion swimmer Bill Prew.

Prew earned NCAA All-America honors in 1940 as a member of the 400-yard freestyle relay team. The following year, he was the 100-yard freestyle national champion (52.1), while finishing second in the NCAA 50-yard freestyle.

Beyond Wayne, Prew equaled the world record in the 100-yard freestyle in 1942, tying Johnny Weissmuller's (yes, the same guy who played Tarzan) time of :51.0. However, as Paul Harvey would say "now the rest of the story" -- it was during the AAU National Championship, at Yale University, that Bill's distinctive first-place finish was clocked in 50.6 seconds, 4 tenths of a second under Johnny Weissmuller's 16-year-old world record. The timers all thought they had made a mistake - no one could break the 51 second barrier, that was impossible. However, as could sometimes happen in this sport before electronic timing was instituted, Bill was awarded the gold medal, but his time was set at 51 seconds, to tie Weissmuller's time.

Prew also set a world mark for the 300-meter (3x100) medley relay of 3:22.2 (this was before butterfly was an official relay stroke).

He swam both in high school (Detroit Northwestern) and at Wayne for legendary coach Leo Mass. While in high school, Prew became the fastest breaststroke swimmer in the city. Because of his exceptional ability, he won a scholarship at Massanutten Military Academy in Woodstock, Va. and switched from breaststroke to sprint freestyle swimming.

Upon returning to Detroit in 1938, Prew enrolled at Wayne to swim for Mass. He earned a Freshman Numeral in 1938-39, and set national freshmen records in both the 50 free and 100 free. The following year, Prew, Andrew Clark and Guy Lumsden helped the Tartars finish fourth at the NCAA Championships behind Michigan, Yale and Ohio State.

The following year (1941), Wayne tied OSU for third place, again behind Michigan and Yale. The Tartars tied-for-14th at the NCAA Championships in 1942 without Prew, who had enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corp. During the war and for the next four years during what would have been the peak of his swimming career, he piloted the Douglas A-20 aircraft, one time having to swim away from a crash in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Panama.

Prew returned to Wayne in 1946 as team captain to earn a citation in the 50-yard freestyle, which helped Wayne tie-for-15th at the NCAA Championships. Ironically, Mass was able to coach a squad to national success in the 1940s despite the university not having a pool. The team had to swim at a local hotel on Cass Avenue.

Prew was selected for the Michigan Amateur Sports Hall of Fame in 1975 and was inducted into the Wayne State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1977. In addition, he was elected to the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1998. Prew served as the ISHOF Chairman of the Board (1994-1995) as well as Vice President for 15 years.

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