Len Moorhouse

New Zealand Olympian: 20

Biography

As a teenager he suffered a horrendous accident which altered the course of his life He was run over by a horse and dray. He was scarred from thigh to ankle and his foot terribly deformed. He found some relief from the pain by swimming. The hours in the water also resulted in a top class swimmer who came to the notice of the local swimming administrators. The accident was the reason he took up swimming at such a relatively late age.
Len trialed for the New Zealand Olympic Team and in 1928  competed in Amsterdam as a back-stroker. He was third in heat 3 (1.20.40) It was a valiant swim but did not qualify for the final.
Len had a varied swimming career, competing in several international events. In 1950 he was appointed swim manager of the NZ Empire games in Auckland.
Len spent most of his working life working for Dominion Brewery’s. His family describe him as a very social person.
His wife Peg is regarded in Waikawa as a living legend She is an internationally known Weaving artist. She and her family are tremendously proud of Len’s achievements and proud too of the work that Len did with encouraging children to swim. Peg remembers Len swimming across the Sounds with their  own children oblivious of the cold..
Sadly Len died of a stroke in Christchurch, at the age of 66.
athlete

Fast facts

Sport
Swimming
Birth place
Dunedin
Born
1904