Jennie Fletcher

{{Short description|British swimmer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2014}}

{{Infobox swimmer

| name = Jennie Fletcher

| image = Jennie Fletcher c1905.jpg

| image_size = 250

| caption = Jennie Fletcher, c. 1905

| fullname = Jennie Fletcher

| national_team = Great Britain

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1890|3|19|df=y}}

| birth_place = Belgrave, Leicester, England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1968|1|17|1890|3|19|df=y}}

| death_place = Teeswater, Ontario, Canada

| height =

| weight =

| strokes = Freestyle

| club = Leicester Ladies SC

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalSport | Women's swimming}}

{{MedalCountry | Great Britain}}

{{MedalCompetition | Olympic Games}}

{{MedalGold | 1912 Stockholm | 4×100 m freestyle}}

{{MedalBronze | 1912 Stockholm | 100 m freestyle}}

}}

Jennie Fletcher (19 March 1890 – 17 January 1968), later known by her married name Jennie Hyslop, was a British competitive swimmer, Olympic gold medallist, and former world record-holder.{{cite web |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/47020 |title=Jennie Fletcher |work=Olympedia |access-date=7 June 2021}} In 1905 she set a new world record in the 100-yard freestyle that stood for seven years.{{cite web |url=http://www.ishof.org/pdf/womeninswimming.pdf |title=Timeline of Women's Swimming History |website=ISHOF.org |publisher=International Swimming Hall of Fame |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029132705/http://ishof.org/pdf/womeninswimming.pdf |archive-date=29 October 2010 |access-date=}} She was selected for the 1908 Olympics, but the women's swimming events were cancelled due to a shortage of participants.{{Cite web |url=https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/jennie-fletcher/ |title=Jennie Fletcher |website=Swimming.org}} At the 1912 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay and a bronze medal in the individual 100-metre freestyle race.{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/fl/jennie-fletcher-1.html |title=Jennie Fletcher |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029123431/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/fl/jennie-fletcher-1.html |archive-date=29 October 2014 |access-date=17 March 2015}} In 1971 she was inducted to the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer".{{cite web |url=http://www.ishof.org/jennie-fletcher--(gbr).html |title=Jennie Fletcher (GBR) |website=ISHOF.org |publisher=International Swimming Hall of Fame |access-date=17 March 2015 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402112700/http://www.ishof.org/jennie-fletcher--(gbr).html |url-status=dead}}

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."[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/4094515.stm Champion swimmer finally honoured]", BBC.com (14 December 2004). Retrieved 17 March 2015."[http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Leicester-s-Olympian-honoured-100-years-triumph/story-15609788-detail/story.html Leicester's Olympian honoured . . . 100 years after her triumph]", Leicester Mercury (24 March 2012). Retrieved 17 March 2015.

File:Belle Moore, Jennie Fletcher, Annie Speirs, Irene Steer 1912.jpg, Jennie Fletcher, Annie Speirs, and Irene Steer at the 1912 Olympics]]

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