The Bill Phipps cup

Bill Phipps joined the club in 1982 and soon had us all in fits of laughter and merriment with his musical virtuoso performance on the nose flute and bicycle pump as well as his unique diving style (sideways-on, preceded by two or three stutters).  He was never one to brag or embellish his background, but the more you spoke to him over the years the more you began to slowly understand the fantastic history that built this fantastic character.  A character that, unsurprisingly, fitted in seamlessly with the Serpentine Swimming Club.

Born in Berlin on 21 April 1936 where his father Sir Eric Phipps was the British ambassador, Bill was bounced on Adolf Hitler's knee as a baby.  It was Sir Eric who had early observed the threat from the Nazis and reported this back to London.  Sir Eric was transferred to Paris in 1937.

Bill served with the Royal Marines from 1954 to 1956.  On leaving the Marines Bill briefly dallied with studying biology at the University of San Francisco.  Waking from a drunken spree in British Columbia, Bill found he had joined the Royal Canadian Navy.  Whilst serving Bill became a deep-sea diver.  Bill used to recount Serps-side that this was nothing like the romantic James Bond tropical waters frogman, but involved walking around cold, dark and filthy harbour floors looking for mines, salvaging wrecks and recovering dead bodies.  Bill recalled that he at first suffered from claustrophobia, but “down there nobody can hear your scream, no matter how loud”.  Though he did enjoy his navy life Bill was keen to come home and marry and tried various ruses to convince the Canadians he should be sent back to Blighty.  At one time, when “tipsy” he threw a champagne cork at an officer and jumped overboard into the icy waters off Newfoundland.  Fished out just in time, he was court-marshalled and placed in solitary confinement.  Despite such escapades, Bill was eventually awarded an honourable discharge in 1960.  Soon after he married Henrietta, a landscape architect and daughter of artist Henry Lamb.

When home, Bill undertook an apprenticeship as a silversmith, after which he worked from his garage before moving to a workshop in the Clarkenwell Road and, in 1963, was recommended to the Art Workers’ Guild.  Bill’s skill and reputation led to many commissions and exhibitions, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Goldsmiths’ Hall and the Design Centre.  For many years Bill also acted as club engraver of our race cups and trophies.

Bill died on 1 October 2009 aged 73.  An obituary in the Daily Telegraph reported that at Christmas 2008 “…he found himself short of breath in the water.  When mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer, was diagnosed, he submitted to treatment with more amusement than hope, and greatly enjoyed sharing macabre jokes with a former boxer in his ward.  His doctor described him as a ‘heart-lifting’ patient, as opposed to the more common ‘heart sinking’ variety”.  Those that knew Bill would not be at all surprised by this tribute.

Henrietta Phipps (thetimes.co.uk)