Jeanette Campbell

Jeannette Campbell’s father John was a Scotsman living in Argentina. During a visit to Europe in 1914, his family got caught up in the First World War, and was unable to return to South America. Jeannette Campbell was then born in France, but the family returned to Argentina soon afterwards. There, she learned swimming with her older sister Dorothy, and quickly became Argentina’s best swimmer. A good performance at the 1935 South American Swimming Championships earned her a place as Argentina’s only woman in the 1936 Olympic squad. There she won her country’s first Olympic swimming medal, placing second behind Rie Mastenbroek. Her silver time of 1:06.4 stood as a South American Record for 28 years. Campbell won 12 South American titles, and 13 national championships. She married fellow Belgrano AC swimmer Roberto Peper, and their daughter Susana also became an Olympian in 1964.