Russell Fletcher (2016)
Joined Victoria Police on 1 February 1977 and still serving at the time of induction, 2016.
Between 1971 and 1976, Russell represented Victoria in swimming on 6 occasions,
winning 1 Australian and 44 Victorian titles and creating 3 Australian and 72 Victorian records,
the last one remaining for 21 years.
Between 1992 and 1999, Russell competed in the Aussie Masters at State, National and
International level. During this time, he won 24 Australian and 40 Victorian gold medals and
created 38 Australian and 52 Victorian records. In 1994, Russell won 4 gold medals at the World
Masters Games and created a new Aussie Masters World Record in the 1500 freestyle. He was
awarded the Aussie Masters Overall Australian Swimming Champion in 1992, 1994 and 1996.
In 1999, VicSport honored Russell with the highly regarded VicHealth Masters Individual Award.
Russell regularly competed in the Victoria Police and Emergency Services Games and won both
the ‘Stuart Taylor’ Memorial Award and the ‘Most Outstanding Individual Sporting Achievement’
award on two occasions – the only person to ever do so.
Russell also competed in the Australia and New Zealand Police Games on 3 occasions,
winning 30 gold medals and creating 25 records.
In 1995 and 2007, Russell competed in the World Police and Fire Games,
winning 14 Gold medals and creating 8 records.
Russell was inducted into the Victoria Police Sporting Hall of Fame in 2016