John Gatenby Hatfield (15 August 1893 – 30 March 1965) was an English competitive swimmer and water polo player who represented Great Britain internationally. Hatfield won three medals at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, and competed in three other Olympic Games. Born in the town of Stokesley, North Yorkshire, he went on to found a sporting goods store in Middlesbrough 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. Swimming career Early life Jack Hatfield was born in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, in 1893. He started swimming at the age of 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, which is where James Hatfield did most of his training. He was also known to train in the River Tees, Smith's Dock, a flooded quarry in Great Ayton 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 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, 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 British swimmer succeeded in winning an Olympic medal until the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, when Bobby McGregor won the silver. In the two-year period following the 1912 Olympics, Hatfield won ten English Championships and broke five world records with the then-revolutionary Trudgen crawl (a variety of front crawl). World War I The outbreak of World War I meant that all championships were suspended for seven years, including the 1916 Olympics. Hatfield became a gunner