Siew Shaw Her (; born 17 July 1957) is a former Singaporean sailor who started his
sailing
Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...
career in 1974. Siew won a gold medal at the
Asian Games and six gold medals at the
Southeast Asian Games
The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...
. He also represented Singapore in the
Summer Olympics.
Siew won his first gold medal at the
1983 Southeast Asian Games
The 1983 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 12th Southeast Asian Games, or informally Singapore 1983, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Singapore from 28 May to 6 June 1983. Scheduled to be hosted by Brunei in accordan ...
in the
470 Men's Dinghy race. In the
1985 Southeast Asian Games
The 1985 Southeast Asian Games ( th, กีฬาแห่งเอเชียตะวันออกเฉียงใต้ 1985, Kila haeng echeiy tawan oak cheing tai 1985), officially known as the 13th Southeast Asian Games, was a Southe ...
, he competed in the
Fireball class as a crew to
Tan Tee Suan and won a silver medal. Siew went back to the 470 class and went on to win five consecutive gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games from 1987 to 1997, with different sailing crew.
Siew achieved 5th place in the
1982 Asian Games
The 9th Asian Games ( hi, 1982 एशियाई खेल) were held from 19 November to 4 December 1982, in Delhi, India. 74 Asian and Asian Games records were broken at the event. This was also the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of t ...
, a silver medal in the 470 class at the
1994 Asian Games
The 1994 Asian Games ( ja, 1994年アジア競技大会, ''Senkyūhyakukyūjūyon-nen Ajia kyōgi taikai''), also known as the XII Asiad and the 12th Asian Games ( ja, 第12回アジア競技大会, Daijūni-kai Ajia kyōgi taikai), were held from ...
and finally the gold medal in the 420 class at the
1998 Asian Games
The 1998 Asian Games (), officially known as the 13th Asian Games and the XIII Asiad, was an Asian multi-sport event celebrated in Bangkok, Thailand from December 6 to 20, 1998, with 377 events in 36 sports and disciplines participated by 6,554 ...
Siew also represented Singapore at three consecutive
Summer Olympics from 1988 to 1996. At the
1988 Summer Olympics's 470 Men's Dinghy race, Siew and his teammate Joseph Chan capsized and were thrown into the rough water. They were injured and unable to right their damaged boat. Canadian sailor
Lawrence Lemieux
Lawrence Lemieux (born November 12, 1955 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian sailor, who competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in the Star class and at the 1988 Summer Olympics in the Finn class. He is famous for his actions in the latter ...
, competing in his
Finn class heat, broke away and sailed to rescue them. Chan and Siew were rescued and transferred onto an official patrol boat.
He went on to compete in the same class at the
1992 Olympics 1992 Olympics may refer to:
*1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain
*1992 Winter Olympics
)
, nations = 64
, athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women)
, events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines)
, opening = 8 ...
and
1996 Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
without much success.
For his sporting achievements, Siew was awarded the Sportsman of the Year title in 1999. He was also ranked 30th in a list of ''Singapore's 50 Greatest Athletes of the Century'' by ''
The Straits Times
''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was establish ...
'' in 1999.
Personal life
Siew has a daughter,
Savannah Siew, who is also a national sailor, and two sons, Sebastian Siew and Sylvester Siew, who holds a PUB scholarship.
References
External links
*
Singapore National Olympic Council website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siew, Shaw Her
Olympic sailors for Singapore
Singaporean male sailors (sport)
1957 births
Living people
Sailors at the 1988 Summer Olympics – 470
Sailors at the 1992 Summer Olympics – 470
Sailors at the 1996 Summer Olympics – 470
Asian Games medalists in sailing
Sailors at the 1982 Asian Games
Sailors at the 1994 Asian Games
Sailors at the 1998 Asian Games
Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games
Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games
Asian Games gold medalists for Singapore
Asian Games silver medalists for Singapore
SEA Games gold medalists for Singapore
SEA Games silver medalists for Singapore
SEA Games medalists in sailing
Competitors at the 1983 SEA Games
Competitors at the 1985 SEA Games
Competitors at the 1987 SEA Games
Competitors at the 1989 SEA Games
Competitors at the 1993 SEA Games
Competitors at the 1995 SEA Games
Competitors at the 1997 SEA Games