Early Years
A native of Butler, Pennsylvania, Holiday trained with U-M swimming coach Matt Mann. While still in high school, Holiday attended Mann's summer camps north of Toronto. He enrolled at Michigan in 1941 and became eligible for the varsity swim team in 1943. At the end of 1942, U-M swimming coach Mann predicted that his 18-year-old, 6’ 5” sophomore, Harry Holiday, would break every backstroke record. Mann said, "Holiday is the best the world has ever seen on his back and one of the finest of all time in the free-style." In an exhibition in late 1942, Holiday swam the 100-yard backstroke in 57 seconds, two-tenths of a second under the world record. In the 150-yard backstroke, he swam at 1:33 –- a full second under the NCAA record. Holiday had attended summer camps conducted by Mann in Canada for several years before enrolling at Michigan. In 1940, he finished second in the Canadian two-mile freestyle championship, 30 yards behind the winner, even though he swam backstroke the entire way.
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