Jan Shearer (right) celebrates with fellow medal-winners
(from left) Leslie Egnot, Rod Davis, Barbara Kendall, Don
Cowie and Craig Monk in Barcelona. Photo by NZ
Herald
To qualify for one Olympic Games is impressive. To get to
three is outstanding.
Jan Shearer, from a great Otago yachting family, competed at
the 1988 (Seoul), 1992 (Barcelona) and 1996 (Atlanta)
Olympics.
In her first crack, she and Fiona Galloway finished ninth in
the 470 in South Korea, paying the price for an early run of
poor results.
Four years later, Shearer teamed with Leslie Egnot, the
American-born, Christchurch-raised yachtswoman who had been a
reserve in Seoul. The pair won the New Zealand 470 title four
times.
At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the pair claimed the silver
medal in a field of 17.
They finished with 36.7 points, behind only Spain's Theresa
Zabell and Patricia Guerra.
Eight boats, including the New Zealanders, were disqualified
in the first race for starting prematurely. After that
Shearer and Egnot sailed consistently well and they won three
races in the regatta.
Shearer and Egnot attempted to better the feat four years
later in the Olympic sailing event off Savannah, but Egnot
was carrying a serious injury and their campaign faltered
early. They eventually finished 16th of the 22 starters.
Although she continued sailing at a high level, Shearer was
unable to qualify for another Olympics, although she and
Melinda Henshaw went extremely close to earning selection in
the 470 class in 2004.
Shearer, who had been an outstanding gymnast growing up in
Dunedin, was the daughter of well-known local sailor Ray
Shearer. She married yachtie Murray Jones, who was fourth in
the Flying Dutchman in Barcelona and later became a prominent
America's Cup figure.
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