Olympic Swimmers

John Jarvis and Jennie Fletcher: two Olympic swimming stars from Leicester.

John Jarvis Paris Olympics 1900

The first long distance river swim through London saw Leicester’s J A Jarvis take first place. He raced in the Seine at the 1900 Paris Olympics, becoming the first ever triple gold medal winner. John Jarvis called himself ‘Amateur Swimming Champion of the World,’ and he earned 108 international swimming championships to prove it!

Leicester was once a city that celebrated its waterways, especially as the river Soar, the city’s bathing stations, swimming pools and canals gave birth to two Olympic champions.

The 2012 London Olympics mark a hundred years since Jennie Fletcher became a legend in her own time. Leicester’s all round swimming champion in 1906, she went on to break many records, ultimately being picked for the 1912 Olympics at Stockholm. At this, the first Olympic Games to include female swimmers, Jennie Fletcher of Leicester won bronze for the 100m freestyle. Then at the same games she formed part of a relay team that went on to win gold. In all, she won over 20 major trophies and titles, becoming champion of England six times as well as setting 11 world records. Her achievements were recognised in 1971 when she was praised as the ‘world’s first great woman swimmer’, being included in the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Although she died in 1968 her achievements were not recognised by the City until 2005 when a plaque commemorating her achievements appeared at Cossington Street Sports Centre. In 2010 her name was fittingly included in the city’s Walk of Fame, in the Cultural Quarter.

Jennie Fletcher won a gold medal in the 1912 Olympic

These swimmers put Leicester on the map and indeed the city’s connection with swimming is truly remarkable.