William ‘Willie’ Swords competed in the men’s individual recurve archery at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, finishing 31st of 38 competitors – an improvement on his pre-tournament ranking, with a personal best also recorded at the 30-metre distance.

Swords came to archery through the connection between Jim Conroy – the pioneering Irish archer and commercial traveller who organised archery exhibitions across Ireland – and Newbridge College, Co. Kildare, where Conroy introduced the sport.

He was coached specifically for the Moscow Games by Conroy as part of a graded development programme that had been established by the Irish Archery Federation from the winter of 1977 onwards. Although the lowest ranked of all the male competitors entering the Moscow competition, he performed creditably in what was a field weakened by the Soviet-led boycott that kept several leading western nations away.