William Griggs
Competition | 1994
Hometown: Wyandotte, Michigan
Bill burst onto the wheelchair sports scene in 1967 and made his mark nationally and internationally in swimming. Whe the National Wheelchair Athletic Association had the old classification system Bill was the USA’s premier Class I swimmer. Bill garnered gold medals from 1967 to 1976 and hit his stride in 1970 when he set national records in Class I backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle and went on to captain the USA Swim Team in international competitions.
Bill competed in multiple international and Paralympic competitions. In 1967, he represented the USA at the Stoke-Mandeville Games in England and the Pan American Wheelchair Games in Winnipeg, Canada. In 1968 he was on Team USA at the Paralympic competition in Tel Aviv, Israel. In 1969 he was named to the Pan American USA team that competed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1970, Bill served as the Captain of the USA Swim Team at the Stoke-Mandeville Games. In 1971 he was on the USA Pan American Team that competed in Kingston, Jamaica. And in 1972 Bill competed in the Paralympic competition that was held in Heidelberg, Germany. Bill was also named to four other international teams but was unable to attend due to work conflicts.
Bill held a B.S degree in Business Administration and an M.S. degree in Recreation and Parks was instrumental in developing sports and recreation programs in the Greater Detroit area when wheelchair sports was in its greatest growth period. He also served on the National Wheelchair Athletic Committee, the precursor to the incorporated National Wheelchair Athletic Association Board of Directors, from 1971 to 1976. By occupation Bill was the City Clerk for the City of Wyandotte, Michigan for 42 years.
