Scottish-born Jimmy Thompson moved to Canada in the early 1920s, took up swimming as a teenager at the Toronto YMCA, and was selected to represent Canada at the 1928 Summer Olympics, where he won a bronze medal in the 4x200 metre freestyle relay, alongside Garnet Ault, Munroe Bourne, and Walter Spence. He was also eliminated in the opening rounds of the 400 and 1,500 metre freestyle events. A machinist by career, he was forced to find sponsors in order to attend the Games, as Canada could only afford to send three competitors. Upon his return he started a government-backed swimming program for underprivileged youth and, two years later, attended the inaugural 1930 British Empire Games, where he captured gold in the 4x200 yard freestyle relay with Bourne and the non-Olympians George Burleigh and Bert Gibson. He retired from active competition after the Games and became the head coach of the Hamilton Aquatic Club in 1932, where he remained until his death from cancer in 1966. His children, Patty and Robert, both represented Canada at the Olympics. Among his many honors for his work as a coach, he was named Hamilton’s Citizen of the Year in 1959 and Canada’s Swimming Coach of the Year in 1964 and has been inducted into the Hamilton Sports and Ontario Aquatic Halls of Fame. Hamilton’s Jimmy Thompson Memorial Swimming Pool is named in his honor.
Canada