Jennifer Fratesi (born April 20, 1984) is a Canadian former competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who specialized in

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

events. Fratesi set a Canadian record of 2:11.16 in the 200-metre backstroke at the 2001 FINA World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, placing 4th in the world. This national record would last nearly a decade, one of the oldest in the country. Fratesi grew up in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario swimming for the Sault Ste Marie Aquatics club until age 15, then relocated to the national swim center in Waterloo Ontario. She saw an immediate drop in her times here under the direction of Bud McAllister, an American born coach. Fratesi went on to win 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze at the Junior Olympics in Sydney, Australia and won 10 national senior titles in her career. Fratesi qualified for the women's 200-metre backstroke at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in Athens, by attaining an A-standard entry time of 2:12.36 from the 2003 FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain. During the Olympics morning's preliminary heats, Fratesi recorded the overall sixth fastest time of 2:13.00 to advance to the semifinals. On the evening session, she missed out of the next day's final by two hundredths of a second (0.02) behind British swimmer and world champion

Katy Sexton Katy Sexton, MBE (born 21 July 1981) is a former Olympic swimmer from Great Britain. She became the first British swimmer to win a World Championship title, when she won the Women's 200m Back at the 2003 World Championships. She is twice an ...

, lowering her Olympic time to 2:12.64. Fratesi also teamed up with Erin Gammel, Lauren van Oosten and Brittany Reimer for the women's 4x100-metre medley relay. Swimming the butterfly third leg, Fratesi recorded a time of 1:01.60, and the Canadian team went on to finish the second heat in sixth place, in a total time of 4:09.84. Jennifer retired from swimming shortly after the 2004 Olympics to concentrate on her studies. She earned her MD at the University of Ottawa and specialized in radiology. She has additional training in thoracics and specializes in diagnosing lung cancer and lung infections. She was inducted into the Ontario swim hall of fame in 2016 and obtained the highest honor, the medal of merit in her hometown.

References

External links

Profile – Canadian Olympic Team
* 1984 births Living people Canadian female backstroke swimmers Canadian female butterfly swimmers Olympic swimmers for Canada Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Ontario Sportspeople from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario 20th-century Canadian women 21st-century Canadian women {{Canada-swimming-bio-stub