Joan Harrison (swimmer)
Harrison in 1950 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Joan Cynthia Harrison | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality |
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Born |
East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa | 29 November 1935|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Strokes | Freestyle, backstroke | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Springbok swimming team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Joan Cynthia Harrison (later Breetzke, born 29 November 1935) is a retired South African swimmer who won the 100 m backstroke event at the 1952 Olympics.[1]
Harrison's mother was a swimmer while her father played rugby.Joan went to the school called Clarendon High School for girls (in East London. Aged 13, she held three junior and two senior national records, and two national senior swimming titles. In 1950, aged 14, she won the 440 yd freestyle at the British Empire Games, beating the previous games record by 13 seconds and finishing 7 seconds ahead of other competitors, and was declared the outstanding woman swimmer of the games. She won two more gold medals at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. In 1982 she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.[2]
References
- ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill. "Joan Harrison". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.
- ↑ Joan Harrison. International Swimming Hall of Fame