[2] He competed in the 220 Yard Breaststroke at the 1930 British Empire Games for England in Hamilton, Ontario,[3] where he won a silver medal in a time of 2:39.6.

Bell had taken residence in London since January 1930 and since doing so had "improved consistently", with reports that he was in contention to establish a new British record in breast-stroke when he would aim to beat R Flint's time of 2:38.

[7] Bell beat his own record a year later in September 1931, when he covered the 200 yard breast stroke in a time of 2 minutes and 36 seconds at the South Norwood Baths.

[8] The Liverpool Echo noted that his rise to fame would not be a surprise in the north of the country, with a belief that he would be capable of beating the new record he set with the right opportunity.

[11] In the 1934 220-yard breast stroke championships at Devonport, Plymouth, Bell narrowly missed out becoming the champion, being beat into second place by N. Hamilton of Glasgow.