Tedford H . Cann Tedford Harris Cann ( September 3 , 1897 – January 26 , 1963 ) was a champion American swimmer and a recipient of the United States military ' s highest decoration , the Medal of Honor . He served as an officer in the United States Naval Reserve during World War I and earned the medal for saving his sinking ship . Early life . Cann was born in Bridgeport , Connecticut , into a family of accomplished sportsmen . His father , Frank Cann , was the director of physical education at New York University ( NYU ) , which both Tedford and his older brother Howard Cann attended . Howard was an Olympic shot putter , a college ball $ 2 $ 3 and football player , and the NYU men ' s basketball coach for 35 years . Cann ' s swimming career began while he was still a teenager . He attended the High School of Commerce in New York City where he was Captain of the Basketball and Swimming Teams and competed in the New York Championships . Like his older brother he became a member of the Epsilon Chapter of the Omega Gamma Delta Fraternity . At age 17 he defeated Hawaiian swimmer Duke Kahanamoku , an event which he later declared was a greater thrill than being awarded the Medal of Honor . While a student at New York University , Cann also excelled in track and field , basketball , and football , where he played halfback as well as becoming a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta . Military service . He served in the Navy Reserve during World War I , initially as a Seaman . On November 5 , 1917 , while he was a member of the crew of the patrol vessel , Seaman Cann voluntarily swam into a flooded compartment and repeatedly dived beneath the surface until he had located and closed the leak that endangered the ship . He was awarded the Medal of Honor for this act . In April 1918 , Cann was commissioned as an ensign in the Reserves , continuing to serve on the USS " May " into July . He spent the rest of World War I as an officer on the and left the service shortly after the conflict ' s end . Post - war life . Cann resumed his swimming career after the war . Coached by Matt Mann , Cann swam with The New York Athletic Club and later the Detroit Athletic Club . On April 10 , 1920 in Detroit , Michigan , he set the world record in the 200 meter freestyle ( then called the 220 yard freestyle ) with a time of 2 : 19 . 8 , breaking the previous record of 2 : 21 . 6 set by Norman Ross in 1916 . His record would stand until 1922 , when Johnny Weissmuller swam the distance in 2 : 15 . 6 . Also in 1920 , Cann won the Amateur Athletic Union National Championships in the 50 , 100 and 200 meter races , becoming the first person to win all three of those titles in a single year . He had qualified for and was preparing to participate in the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp when he was involved in a serious car accident . Early in the morning of May 11 , 1920 , Cann and two other Olympic - hopefuls were in a taxicab in New York City , returning home from a late night out , when the driver crashed into an elevated railroad pillar . One of Cann ' s fellow passengers was fatally injured , and Cann ' s leg was broken in six places . He missed the Olympics due to his injury , which required him to use crutches for more than a year and left him with a permanent limp . Although he was never able to swim as fast as he had before the accident , Cann took up water polo with much success . He participated in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris and played with The New York Athletic Club national champion polo team up to the early 1930s . Cann died at age 65 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery , Arlington County , Virginia . Four years later , in 1967 , he was posthumously inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as a swimmer . Medal of Honor citation . Rank and organization : Seaman , U . S . Navy . Born : September 3 , 1897 , Bridgeport , Conn . Accredited to : New York . G . O . No . : 366 , 1918 . Citation : For courageous conduct while serving on board the U . S . S . May , 5 November 1917 . Cann found a leak in a flooded compartment and closed it at the peril of his life , thereby unquestionably saving the ship .