Jessica Deglau (born May 27, 1980) was a member of the Canadian Olympic team in

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

in the

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. Deglau swam for the Vancouver Pacific Swim Club in her youth, until becoming a member of the national team. In addition to swimming on the national team, she swam for and graduated from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

. The

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

native first broke the Canadian record in the 200-meter

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

at the 1996 Olympics clocking 2:11.68 for sixth spot and bettered it two years later at the world championships, again finishing sixth. However, in the 200-metre butterfly at the

1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games () or the 13th Pan American Games and commonly known as Winnipeg 1999, were a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Ma ...

, Deglau went under the magic 2:10 barrier clocking 2:09.64, a time that would have earned her the silver medal at the 1996 Games and a bronze at the 1998 worlds. It was the second fastest time in the world in 1999 behind Australian world and Olympic champion

Susie O'Neill Susan O'Neill, (born 2 August 1973) is an Australian former competitive swimmer from Brisbane, Queensland, nicknamed "Madame Butterfly". She achieved eight Olympic Games medals during her swimming career. Early life O'Neill was born on 2 Augu ...

's 2:07.35. Deglau won the 1996 Elaine Tanner Award, presented annually to Canada's outstanding junior female athlete. She also won a 2003 Sport BC Athlete of the Year Award and a 2003 Premier's Athletic Award for swimming as an outstanding British Columbia athlete, and was honored as "one of the greatest swimmers in

Canadian Interuniversity Sport U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body for universities in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country and four regional conferences: Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Résea ...

CIS history." During her collegiate swimming career she amassed a total of 29 medals, the highest total in the history of UBC. Deglau was chosen CIS Female Swimmer of the Year in 1998-99 and 1999–2000. On April 3, 2013, Deglau was inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame. Jessica Deglau is a distant relative of prominent photographer Terry Deglau.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deglau, Jessica 1980 births Living people Canadian female butterfly swimmers Canadian female freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Canada Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1999 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Vancouver UBC Thunderbirds women's swimmers Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in swimming Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada in swimming Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada in swimming Swimmers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games 20th-century Canadian sportswomen Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games 21st-century Canadian sportswomen

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