Squash World Champion was on Titanic

Sunday marks 100th anniversary of ship's sinking

1,514 people out of 2,224 on board lost their lives when the Titanic went down on April 15, 1912.

England's 23-year-old Charles Williams was squash's world champion in April 1912 and was on his way to New York to defend his title in a match against a Mr G. Standing, the American Champion, for a stake of a $5,000 purse.

Charles Eugene Williams

Williams, a professional squash player, had been practicing in the on-board squash court and had just gone for a cigarette when the ship hit the iceberg.

He rushed out onto the deck and witnessed the iceberg towering over the ship. He survived after subsequently leaping off the side of the ship and making it to one of the lifeboats.

Williams, who was traveling on a second class ticket, told reporters later that he had left the squash court at 10:30 pm on the fateful night and gone to the smoking room. It was while he was there, having a post-game cigarette, that he heard and felt a crash and rushed outside to see the iceberg towering 100 feet above the deck.

He reportedly jumped into a lifeboat from the starboard side and ended up aboard the rescue ship Carpathia, which took him and 704 other survivors to New York. The scheduled squash match was not played.

Williams lived until October 27,1935 when he passed away in Chicago, where he lived on Lakewood Avenue.

This Blog posting is courtesy of www.ProSquashTour.net