| Barbara Jensen | |
| Fullname: | Barbara Jayne Jensen |
| Strokes: | Backstroke |
| Club: | Athens Athletic Club |
| Birth Date: | September 15, 1929 |
| Birth Place: | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Death Date: | [1] |
| Death Place: | Ravalli, Montana, U.S. |
Barbara Jayne Jensen (later Reeve, later Jackson, September 15, 1929 - December 20, 2018) was an American competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She competed in the semifinals of the 100-meter backstroke and finished fifth with a time of 1:19.1.
Jensen was born in San Francisco, California and raised in Colma,[2] the daughter of Mattrup Jay Jensen and Edna Quinn Jensen. Her father managed a cemetery in Colma.[3] Her Danish-born grandfather was the first mayor of Colma.[4] She learned to swim at the Jewish Community Center in San Francisco and started competing around the age of 12. She then trained at the Athens Athletic Club in Oakland, and returned to San Francisco in 1949.[5] At age 44, she earned a master's degree in sociology from Saint Xavier University in Chicago.[6]
In 1945, aged 15, she broke the national record in the 100 m backstroke. She represented the United States at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.[7]
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.[8] [9] The same year she was runner-up for the James E. Sullivan Award.[10] [11] and placed fifth in the voting for female Athlete of the Year in the annual Associated Press poll of sports writers.[12]
In the early 1950s, after she married, Barbara Jensen Reeve was a swimmer with the Chicago Town Club.[13] 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.[14] She semi-retired in 1980 for health reasons, but resumed competing in 1997, winning her national titles in the 50m, 100m, and 200m backstroke. She was active in the U.S. Masters Swimming organization as a volunteer and attended the 1975 and 1999 national conventions.
Jensen married twice and had four children. She survived cancer in the 1980s. She died in 2018, at the age of 89, in Ravalli, Montana.