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 sport, 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 water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

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

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

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 North Yorkshire, England. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, on the River Leven, North Yorkshire, River Leven. An Wards and ...

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

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, 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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Swimming career

Early life

Jack Hatfield was born in

, North Yorkshire, in 1893. He started swimming at age 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, where James Hatfield did most of his training. He was also known to train in the

River Tees The River Tees (), in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea in the North East of England. The modern-day history of the river has been tied with the industries ...

, Smith's Dock, a flooded quarry in

Great Ayton Great Ayton is a village and civil parish in 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. According to the 2021 Census, the parish has a popu ...

, 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 (Roman numerals, CD) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Stilicho and Aurelianus (consul 400), Aurelianus (or, less frequently, year ...

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 med ...

, 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 male British swimmer succeeded in winning an individual Olympic medal until the

1964 Olympics 1964 Olympics refers to both: *The 1964 Winter Olympics, which were held in Innsbruck, Austria *The 1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 Oct ...

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-metr ...

won the silver. In the two years 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 three further Olympic Games:

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

in 1920,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1924, and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

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

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

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 is now known as the Commonwealth Games, and was held in Hamilton, Ontario, from 16 to 23 August 1930. The event was organized by '' Hamilton Spectator'' sportswriter Bobby Robinso ...

at the age of 37. He finished fourth in the 1500 metres freestyle final. Hatfield led Middlesbrough's water polo team to victory, and as England's centre forward, he played against every European country 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, s ...

- 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 a Hungarian-born German American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive-swimming records o ...

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 of service before profit. Hatfield ensured that he always had a large amount of stock that 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 overflow with footballs waiting to be inflated. Sometimes the queues would be so long that other customers were unable to gain access to 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 association football club based in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Nicknamed the Boro, they were fo ...

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 football player and manager, who managed Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–71 season. He was the first manager of an E ...

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 called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

games to

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in the Ayresome area of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It ...

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 displayed 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

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hatfield, Jack 1893 births 1965 deaths English male freestyle swimmers British male freestyle swimmers English male water polo players British 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 Military personnel from North Yorkshire 20th-century English sportsmen