Brenda Fisher

Brenda Fisher (9 June 1927 – 2 August 2022) was an English long-distance swimmer. In 1951 she broke the women's world record for swimming the English Channel becoming a celebrity and she was given the British Sportswoman of the Year Award.

Brenda Fisher
in 1951
Personal information
Born(1927-06-09)9 June 1927
Scartho, Lincolnshire, England
Died2 August 2022(2022-08-02) (aged 95)
Sport
SportSwimming

Life

Fisher was born and raised in Scartho, North East Lincolnshire,[1] the daughter of a Grimsby trawler skipper, learned to swim at the age of 9, and initially became a speed swimmer.[2][3][4]

Brenda Fisher in 1951 swimming the English Channel

On 17 August 1951 she was the 23rd swimmer of the English Channel from France to England, completing in a new record women's time of 12 hours 42 minutes. She was fed every hour keeping up a rate 250 strokes a minute rising to 30 as she approached England. She only learned of her time when she landed in England.[5] She broke the previous women's record of 13:20 set by Florence Chadwick a year earlier.[6][7] A crowd of 60,000 turned out to welcome her back to Grimsby.[8]

Brenda Fisher celebrity in 1951

Fisher swam the Channel again in 1954, and was the first woman ashore.[9][10] In 1956, Fisher completed and won the 29-mile (47 km) River Nile Swim, then at the fastest time.[11][12] Fisher was asked to attend the Royal Command Performance and she was given the Sportswoman of the Year Award.[5]

In September 1956, Fisher took part in the 32-mile (51 km) Lake Ontario swim from Niagara to Toronto, completing in 18 hours and 50 minutes, 2 hours and 6 minutes faster than the previous record set by Marilyn Bell.[2][11] At that point, she was the third person in history to complete the swim. She attempted the Ontario swim again in 1957 but retired after 12 hours 43 minutes,[13] during a thunder storm which threatened to sink her support boats.[8]

Fisher, with Stanley Baker, was one of the judges in the 1954 Prestatyn "Easy To Love" Bathing Beauty Contest.[14]

Fisher married Paddy Johnson, footballer with Grimsby Town F.C. After retiring, she became a swimming teacher in Grimsby.[15]

In 2015, her biography was published. Blonde In Deep Water was written by local journalist Lucy Wood.[16][17]

In 2016, she appeared on the BBC Television series Flog It!, to sell her Clarice Cliff 'Inspiration' vase at auction[8] and in June 2018 she appeared on Antiques Roadshow with her collection of swimming memorabilia.[18]

Fisher received in 2018 the British Empire Medal, as part of the Queen's New Year Honours list, for her achievements in the sport of swimming.[19] A blue plaque in her honour was erected in Grimsby in 2017.[20]

Fisher died from complications of a stroke on 2 August 2022, at the age of 95.[21][22]

References
  1. "Amazing life of Grimsby's record-breaking Channel swimmer recorded in new book", Grimsby Telegraph, 8 August 2015, Retrieved 17 March 2016
  2. "Brenda Ready To Swim Anything Provided It’s Made Worthwhile"; The Montreal Gazette 15 August 1956. Retrieved 11 June 2012
  3. "60 years on, record-breaker Brenda recalls her race to British shores" Archived 5 May 2013 at archive.today; Grimsby Telegraph, 16 August 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2012
  4. "Brenda Fisher"; Solo Swims of Ontario Inc. Hall of Fame. Retrieved 11 June 2012
  5. "Brenda Fisher obituary". The Guardian. 18 August 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  6. "Channel Swim Won By Egyptian". Cairns Post. 18 August 1951.
  7. "Florence Chadwick – Solo Channel Swimmer". Channel Swimming: Dover.uk.com. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  8. "Grimsby 5 (from 30.00 min.)". Flog It!. Series 15. 10 November 2016. BBC Television. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  9. "'A remarkable lady'"; Thisisgrimsby.co.uk. Grimsby Telegraph, 14 September 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2012
  11. "Brenda Fisher Beats Marilyn Bell Record"; Solo Swims of Ontario Inc. Hall of Fame Globe and Mail 14 August 1956. Retrieved 11 June 2012
  12. "Brenda Fisher Wins Nile Swim 1956"; British Pathe. Retrieved 11 June 2012
  13. "Brenda Fisher Swims Ontario"; The Palm Beach Post, 14 August 1958. Retrieved 11 June 2012
  14. ""Easy To Love" Bathing Beauty Contest 1954"; British Pathe. Retrieved 11 June 2012
  15. "Two Grimsby sporting heroes call on athletes to make waves at London 2012"; Thisisgrimsby.co.uk. Grimsby Telegraph, 9 March 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012
  16. Wood, Lucy Alice (2015). Blonde in Deep Water: Brenda Fisher: The Story of a Channel Swimmer. North Wall Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9568175-9-4.
  17. "A story of a lady who made our town great!"; Grimsby Telegraph. Retrieved 6 March 2015
  18. "Champion Long Distance Swimmer Brenda Fisher", Antiques Roadshow, BBC One. Retrieved 3 February 2021
  19. "Champion swimmer Brenda Fisher receives British Empire Medal", Grimsby Telegraph, 21 May 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2019
  20. "Brenda Fisher: Channel swimmer honoured with blue plaque", BBC News, 6 December 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2021
  21. Grimsby's Brenda Fisher dies at the age of 95
  22. "Brenda Fisher obituary". The Times. 19 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
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