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Barbara Jensen

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Barbara Jensen
Jensen in 1946
Personal information
Full nameBarbara Jayne Jensen
National team United States
Born(1929-09-15)September 15, 1929
San Francisco, California, U.S.
DiedDecember 20, 2018(2018-12-20) (aged 89)[1]
Ravalli, Montana, U.S.
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBackstroke
ClubCrystal Plunge Swim Club
(San Francisco)
Athens Athletic Club
CoachCharlie Sava (Crystal Plunge)

Barbara Jayne Jensen (later Reeve, later Jackson, September 15, 1929 – December 20, 2018) was an American competition swimmer who represented the United States in the semi-finals of the Women's 100-meter backstroke at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.[2]

Early life and education

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Jensen was born in San Francisco, California and raised in Colma,[3] the daughter of Mattrup Jay Jensen and Edna Quinn Jensen. Her father managed a cemetery in Colma.[4] Her Danish-born grandfather was the first mayor of Colma.[5] She learned to swim at the Jewish Community Center in San Francisco and started competing around the age of 12. She was managed and trained by Hall of Fame Coach Charlie Sava, who coached at the Crystal Plunge swimming club, and at the Larson Pool, both in San Francisco from the late 1920's through 1983. She swam with the Crystal Plunge Club early in her career, then with the Athens Athletic Club in nearby Oakland, California, and returned to the Crystal Plunge Swim club in 1949. Swimming for the Athens Athletic Club at the Metropolitan Oakland Swimming Championships in March 1948, Jensen set a Pacific Association record for the 300-yard individual medley, with a winning time of 4:11.6, and won the 150-yard backstroke, one of her strengths with a time of 1:54.9.[6] [7][8] At age 44, she earned a master's degree in sociology from Saint Xavier University in Chicago.[9]

1948 London Olympics

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She competed in the semifinals of the 100-meter backstroke at the 1948 London Olympics and finished fifth in the second semifinal heat with a time of 1:19.1, and did not quite make the finals. Her time was tenth overall, and she would have to have finished in the top eight to qualify.[9][2]

Swimming career highlights

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In 1945, aged 15, she broke the national record in the 100 m backstroke.[10]

Jensen was a member of the national team in 1949–50. In 1949 she won the AAU titles in the 110-yard and 220-yard backstroke outdoors, and in the 220-yard backstroke indoors.[11][12] The same year she was runner-up for the James E. Sullivan Award.[13][14] and placed fifth in the voting for female Athlete of the Year in the annual Associated Press poll of sports writers.[15]

In the early 1950s, after she married, Barbara Jensen Reeve was a swimmer with the Chicago Town Club. In August, 1973, she swam a 1:29.196 for a 100-meter backstroke event at the National AAU Masters championship at Chicago Circle.[16][17] In 1972 she began competing in masters swimming. Between 1972 and 1979 she won 42 national titles and set eight national or world records in the backstroke swimming with United States Masters swimming.[18] She semi-retired in 1980 for health reasons, but resumed competing in 1997, winning her national titles in the 50m, 100m, and 200m backstroke. In 1997, her Masters national titles put her in line for the All-American team for Master's swimmers.[13] She was active in the U.S. Masters Swimming organization as a volunteer and attended the 1975 and 1999 national conventions.[3][2] Much of her Master's swimming in Montana in later life was done at the Canyon Sports Club in Hamilton, Montana, where she also did some coaching.[19] Around 2000, she was a member of the U.S. Master's Fitness Education Committee and also served on the U.S. Master's Sports Medicine and Science Committee.[20]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Barbara Jensen.

Personal life

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Jensen married twice and had four children and was survived by 13 grandchildren.[3] She survived cancer in the 1980s. She died in 2018, at the age of 89, in Ravalli, Montana.[9]

References

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  1. ^ Barbara Jensen's obituary
  2. ^ a b c "Olympedia Biography, Barbara Jensen". olympedia.org. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c "Profiling Barbara Jensen Reeve Jackson". US Masters Swimming. November 24, 2002. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  4. ^ "M. Jay Jensen is Dead at 62". The Times. February 12, 1964. p. 61. Retrieved May 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Colma's First Mayor Dies". The San Francisco Examiner. September 13, 1957. p. 8. Retrieved May 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Palanzo, Paul, "Oakland and S.F. Youths Top Swim", The Oakland Post Enquirer, Oakland, California, March 8, 1948, pg. 19
  7. ^ Cooper, Charles, "Charlie Sava, Builder of Champions, Dies", The San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco, California, February 16, 1983, pg. 65
  8. ^ "Barbara Jensen, Swim Star, Quits Oakland for S.F." The Oakland Post Enquirer. November 9, 1948. p. 17. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c "Obituary for Barbara (Jensen) Jackson". Whitesitt Funeral Home & Cremation Service. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  10. ^ "Barbara Jensen, Nat'l. Swim Star, Enters Championship Meet Here". Daily Independent Journal. May 12, 1949. p. 10. Retrieved May 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Miss Jensen Wins Two Swim Titles; Takes 200-Yard Back-Stroke and 300-Yard Medley at National A. A. U. Meet". The New York Times. April 23, 1949. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  12. ^ "Barbara Jensen Twin Swim Wins". Nevada State Journal. April 23, 1949. p. 8. Retrieved May 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Barbara Jensen". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  14. ^ "Skater Named Top Amateur Athlete". The Ponca City News. January 4, 1950. p. 7. Retrieved May 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Talbot, Gayle (January 13, 1950). "Golfer Bauer Named 1949 Gal Athlete". Victoria Advocate. p. 8. Retrieved May 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Swimming, National AAU Masters", Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois, August 13, 1978, pg. 68
  17. ^ Angelopolous, Angelo (July 1, 1952). "Ripple Becoming Town Club Home". The Indianapolis News. p. 17. Retrieved May 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Maxine Merlino adds two records". The Spokesman-Review. August 28, 1977. p. 2. Retrieved May 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Whitesitt Funeral Home Obituary, Barbara Jenson Jackson". whitesittfuneralhome.com. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
  20. ^ "USMS Swimmer Information, Barbara J. Jenson Jackson". lanemate.usms.org. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
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