She competed in the women's 3 metre springboard event at the 1948 Summer Olympics[1] and was the youngest British Olympian that year at the age of fifteen.
[2] At the age of 13, she tied for first place in the junior 100 yard swim race, in a dead heat during the 1946 Oxford County Championships.
[4] According to the Daily Mirror, Harris '"failed badly on two of her dives", causing the crowds to "[raise] their eyebrows" and groan in disappointment.
[4] The year before the Olympics, she traveled from Oxford to London on Saturdays to train with Millie Hudson and competed as part of the Hammersmith Ladies Swimming Club.
[6][7] A French coach, Andrew Henry Caza, said of her performance at the 1948 Olympics, "Esme Harris is a real prospect for 1952.