Carol Penny Taylor – November 4, 2025
Joan Harrison May 20, 2025
Today on Facebook, on the Swimming History of Southern Africa Page, they announces the death of Joan Harrison Breetzke, who was inducted into ISHOF as an Honor Swimmer in 1982. Joan came to Fort Lauderdale in 1982 for her induction to celebrate the milestone. Pictured below is Joan accepting award, doing her footprints in cement and looking at her ISHOF display.
Joan Harrison (RSA) 1982 Honor Swimmer
FOR THE RECORD: OLYMPIC GAMES: 1952 gold (100m backstroke); COMMONWEALTH GAMES: 1950 gold (400m freestyle), bronze (100m freestyle); 1954 gold (100m backstroke; relay), silver (relay), bronze (100m freestyle).
Born in 1935 of a swimming mother and a rugby-playing father in East London, South Africa, Joan Harrison wasted little time taking advantage of her sporting heritage. At 13, she already held three Jr. and two Sr. national records, and that year won the 220 and 500 yd. Senior Freestyle National Championships.
In 1950, at age 14, she won the 440 yd. freestyle at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand, beating the old record by 13 seconds and finishing 7 seconds ahead of the field. It was her first international competition and she was declared the outstanding woman swimmer in the Games.
Her second International Games was the Helsinki Olympics in 1952, where she won South Africa’s first and only Olympic gold medal for swimming. In 1954, at the Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, she won two gold medals, a silver, and a bronze before retiring at the ripe old age of 17.
She won the Helms Foundation Award for the best African athletic performance in any sport in 1952, and while concentrating on field hockey after 1954, she did manage to come back two more years to win the Nationals in her favorite 100 meter backstroke and in the 300 I. M. in 1956. She was South Africa’s supreme swimmer in freestyle, backstroke and I.M. for six years.
RIP Joan Harrison Breetzke.
Heinz Kluetemeier January 14, 2025
IMSHOF Honoree Linda McGill, MBE, OAM died 30 July 2025
Linda McGill, MBE, OAM was the first to swim around Hong Kong Island in 17 hours and 6
minutes; across Port Phillip Bay, Victoria; and from Townsville to Magnetic Island, Queensland,
Australia. She established a new women’s record in 9 hours and 59 minutes across the English
Channel in 1967 – which held until 1975.
She completed the English Channel a total of 3 times; around Manhattan swim three times in 1983,
1984 and 1986; and St-Jean in 1968.
Linda competed in the pool in the 1964 Olympics.
Expanded Biography (Openwaterpedia)
Long Swims Database (Marathon Swimmers Federation)
Irene Sarah Wakeham died 19 October 2025
Not an Honoree – a long term contributor
Every summer (which gets longer and longer) for several decades, Irene was part of the “beach crew” in Dover England. An unpaid volunteer she helped aspiring English Channel swimmers: greeting them by name, checked them in/out of the water, “guarded” their clothes bags, met them hourly at the water’s edge with drink bottles of carbo-mix, encouraged them to keep going, made sure they staggered back after to their clothes after long sessions (sometime 10+ hours), and told them that they were wonderful and on-track for a future success. Every swimmer knew that Irene cared about them as individuals.
Pictured between Michael Oram (IMSHOF) and Kevin Murphy (ISHOF and IMSHOF) at an annual ceremony dinner.