Farrell Devlin

Farrell attended West Reading High School and, as a competitive freestyle swimmer, he won top local, state and national honors. He won the Pennsylvania State P.I.A.A. 220-yard freestyle championship, the Middle-Atlantic States AAU Senior one-mile championship and was selected to the All-American High School Swim Team (1945). He was the Middle-Atlantic States champion in the 100 and 200-meter freestyle, a Middle-Atlantic AAU record in the 100-meter freestyle, and competed in the Olympic trials in Detroit, MI but didn’t win a place on the team because of a sprained shoulder (1948). Devlin won three gold medals and one silver medal at the President’s Regatta Swimming Championships in Washington, DC (1949). While representing LaSalle College, he won three medals at the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming Championship (1949 & 1950). He set a 220-yard freestyle record for Canada in a meet at McGill University and received one of swimming’s highest honors by being named to the All-American Intercollegiate Swimming Team (1950). He was named the Outstanding Athlete in Berks County (1950) and was selected second to Gene Venske as Berks County’s Outstanding Athlete for the half-century from 1900-1950. His local Berks County championships were in numerous events from 50 yards to one mile. He won the annual Schuylkill River Swim eight times (1943-1950). As a resident of Delaware, he swam in the Delaware State Championships and won the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle, the 150 individual medley and set four new state records (1954) Farrell is an inductee of the Berks County Swimming Hall of Fame (1971).