John Gatenby Hatfield (15 August 1893 – 30 March 1965) was an English 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 ...

and

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

player who represented Great Britain internationally. Hatfield won three medals at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

in Stockholm, Sweden, and competed in three other Olympic Games. Born in the town of

Stokesley Stokesley is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England, formerly a part of the historic North Riding of Yorkshire. It lies on the River Leven. An electoral ward, of the same name, stretches north to ...

, North Yorkshire, he went on to found a sporting goods store in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

which remained open until August 2018. The store sponsored local sports, including a football league. In recognition of this and other contributions to the community, Hatfield's son was awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Middlesbrough in 2009. Hatfield served in the British Expeditionary Force in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Swimming career

Early life

Jack Hatfield was born in

, North Yorkshire, in 1893. He started swimming at the age of five, and by the age of 12 he had won his first title – Senior Champion of Middlesbrough. At 16, he won the Yorkshire Quarter Mile, knocking 11 seconds off the previous best time. His father was the superintendent of Middlesbrough Baths, which is where James Hatfield did most of his training. He was also known to train in the

River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...

, Smith's Dock, a flooded quarry in

Great Ayton Great Ayton is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. The River Leven (a tributary of the River Tees) flows through the village, which lies just north of the North York Moors. Etymology Great Ayton's ...

and the boating lake in Albert Park. At the height of his fame, it was not uncommon for crowds of two to three thousand people to come and watch him train.

1912 Olympics

In 1912, Hatfield was chosen for the Stockholm Olympic Games. In each of the

400 __NOTOC__ Year 400 ( CD) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Stilicho and Aurelianus (or, less frequently, year 11 ...

and 1500 metre freestyle events, including the preliminaries, he broke the world record – only to see his victory snatched away from him by Canada's

George Hodgson George Ritchie Hodgson (October 12, 1893 – May 1, 1983) was a Canadian competition swimmer of the early 20th century, and considered by many to be the greatest swimmer in Canadian history. Hodgson won the two longer freestyle swimming gold ...

, who won gold in both events. Hatfield returned home with two silver medals and a bronze (won in the freestyle relay race) to a hero's welcome. He was greeted at Darlington Railway Station by a crowd of 20,000 people, whilst a band played "Hail the Conquering Hero". No other British swimmer succeeded in winning an Olympic medal until the

1964 Olympics 1964 Olympics refers to both: *The 1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Ba ...

in Tokyo, when

Bobby McGregor Robert Bilsand McGregor, MBE (born 3 April 1944), nicknamed the "Falkirk Flyer", is a Scottish former competitive swimmer. Swimming career He competed in eight events at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics. He won a silver medal in the 100-met ...

won the silver. In the two-year period following the 1912 Olympics, Hatfield won ten English Championships and broke five world records with the then-revolutionary

Trudgen The trudgen is a swimming stroke sometimes known as the ''racing stroke'', or the ''East Indian stroke''. It is named after the English swimmer John Trudgen (1852–1902) and evolved out of sidestroke. One swims mostly upon one side, making an o ...

crawl (a variety of front crawl).

World War I

The outbreak of

meant that all championships were suspended for seven years, including the 1916 Olympics. Hatfield became a gunner in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

and spent four years in the trenches in France, only to be brought back for the Army Navy Championship, which he won in 1915.

Post-war career

After the war, his swimming career continued, and he took part in a further three Olympic Games:

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

in 1920,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1924 and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

in 1928. He also took part in the European Games in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

in 1929, and was asked to captain the English team in the

1930 British Empire Games The 1930 British Empire Games were the inaugural edition of what now is known as the Commonwealth Games, and were held in Hamilton, Ontario, from 16 to 23 August 1930. The games were organized by ''Hamilton Spectator'' sportswriter Bobby Robinso ...

, at the age of 37. Hatfield led Middlesbrough's water polo team to victory, and as England's centre forward, he played against every country in Europe between 1920 and 1932. His swimming career spanned two decades, during which time he won every title from the 300 yards to the five-mile Championships held in the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

- 42 titles in total. He broke more local, national, international and world records in swimming than any other man until the arrival of

Johnny Weissmuller Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. H ...

Jack Hatfield Sports

As well as his swimming credits, Hatfield was a keen all-round sportsman and a respected local businessman. Following the 1912 Olympics, his father set him up as the proprietor of a sports shop – Jack Hatfield Sports – on Newton Street in Middlesbrough. The "Jack Hatfield Swimming Costume" (the first costume for men to be made without sleeves and legs) found an international market and made his 12 ft by 13 ft shop known to many of the big names in the swimming world. The shop soon grew to take in two neighbouring shops, before it moved premises to Borough Road when Newton Street was redeveloped. It was a family-run business – Jack Hatfield's sister ran the shop whilst he was away, and following his death in 1965, three of his four sons took over the ownership of the shop, having worked there all their adult lives. The shop had a reputation for outstanding personal service with the approach, service before profit. Hatfield ensured that he always had a large amount of stock which covered the needs of almost every athletic sport, and he could offer sound and expert advice in any of these areas. They offered a service whereby they would blow up customers' footballs for them and every weekend the shelves would be overflowing with footballs waiting to be inflated. Sometimes the queues would be so long that other customers were unable to gain access into the shop. The shop's 50th, 75th and 85th anniversaries were celebrated, as well as the retirement of Hatfield's sons from the firm. A tribute in the '' Evening Gazette'' was published, which read: "It's sad to see the end of an era as the name Hatfield meant a lot to people in this part of the country, so good luck and good health to the family, you served your town well." One of Middlesbrough's longest running businesses, the shop remained open until August 2018.

Middlesbrough Football Club

Hatfield was closely connected with

Middlesbrough Football Club Middlesbrough Football Club ( ) is a professional football club in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadiu ...

all his life, and as a result, the shop supplied the club with all their sporting equipment. Jack Hatfield's was visited by scores of professional and amateur footballers over the years, and Hatfield counted the likes of

Matt Busby Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager, who managed Manchester United F.C., Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 197 ...

and

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...

as personal friends. Hatfield was made one of the eight Directors of Middlesbrough Football Club in 1952. As well as bringing many top name players to Middlesbrough, he also played an instrumental part in bringing three

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

games to Ayresome Park in 1966, even though they were played a year after his death.

Death and legacy

Hatfield died at the age of 71. In his obituaries, he was remembered as "possibly the most popular man on Teesside". Hatfield was inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

in 1984. His achievements have also been honoured on a local level – Jack Hatfield Square was opened on Fry Street in Middlesbrough 15 years after his death. In attendance were the town's civic dignitaries and other guests. A service of dedication was held, accompanied by the Middlesbrough Sea Cadet Corps on pipes and drums. In 1999, a special plaque in commemoration was unveiled in Captain Cook's Square, at the site of the former Middlesbrough Swimming Baths. An exhibition was held at the

Dorman Museum Dorman Museum is a local and social history museum on the town centre side of Albert Park, Linthorpe in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It is one of two museums operated by the local borough council, along with the Captain Cook bir ...

in Middlesbrough to mark the 100th anniversary of Hatfield's birth, which included the display of the "Illuminated Address" given to Hatfield by the people of Middlesbrough in 1924 in recognition of his swimming achievements. His medals were also put on display in a fundraising exhibition at the Marton Country Club Hotel, to raise money for the Olympic Appeal Fund. Jack Hatfield's eldest of four sons, also called Jack, was awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Middlesbrough in 2009.

References

External links

Jack Hatfield (GBR)
– Honour Swimmer profile at the International Swimming Hall of Fame {{DEFAULTSORT:Hatfield, Jack 1893 births 1965 deaths English male freestyle swimmers English male water polo players Swimmers at the 1912 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1920 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers for Great Britain Olympic water polo players for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain British Army personnel of World War I Sportspeople from Middlesbrough Royal Artillery soldiers World record setters in swimming Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in swimming