Jennie Fletcher

Who was Jennie Fletcher?

Jennie Fletcher was a British freestyle swimmer. She was selected for the 1908 Olympics, but the women's swimming events were cancelled due to a shortage of participants. At the 1912 Summer Olympics she won a gold medal in the 4×100 m relay and a bronze medal in the individual 100 m race. In 1971 she was inducted to the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Fletcher was born in an underprivileged family of 11 siblings and had to combine swimming with daily 12-hour work. In 1913 she began teaching swimming in Leicester, which ended her competitive career as she turned from an amateur into a professional. In 1917, she married and immigrated to Canada, where she gave birth to a daughter and five sons.