Bill Lowe won the Irish national 100 and 220 yards titles and competed in both the 100 metres and 200 metres at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games, finishing fourth in his first-round 100m heat and fifth in his second-round 200m heat.

Born in Belfast, he emigrated to England at a young age and first came to prominence as junior schoolboy champion of Blackpool. He joined Manchester Athletic Club, where he won the 440 yards championship in 1924 in a club record of 51.2 seconds that stood until after World War II. He also won the Northern Counties 440 yards hurdles title.

A versatile sportsman, Lowe played football for Northern Nomads FC and as an amateur for Congleton in the Cheshire League, played rugby for Heaton Moor Rugby Club and cricket for Old Trafford in Lancashire. He later settled in Peterborough, where he worked as a longtime employee of F Perkins Limited and became involved in coaching and judging athletics, serving as chief judge for Northamptonshire and authoring a book on the mechanics of tug-of-war. He was also a single-digit handicap golfer.