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, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

career in 1974. Siew won a gold medal at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

and six gold medals at the

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as 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 The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

. 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, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Singapore from 28 May to 6 June 1983. Scheduled to be hosted by Brunei in accorda ...

in the 470 Men's Dinghy race. In the

1985 Southeast Asian Games The 1985 Southeast Asian Games (), officially known as the 13th Southeast Asian Games, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Bangkok, Thailand from 8 to 17 December 1985. This was the fourth time Thailand hosted the games and its fi ...

, he competed in the Fireball class as a crew to

Tan Tee Suan Tan or TAN may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Tan'', an album by the Polish rock band Kult * TAN (group), South Korean boy band * ''Tan'' (newspaper), a newspaper in Turkey * ''Tan'' (weekly newspaper), a newspaper in Kosovo Businesses ...

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 (), also known as Delhi 1982 (), 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 the Olymp ...

, a silver medal in the 470 class at the

1994 Asian Games The 1994 Asian Games (), also known as the XII Asiad and the 12th Asian Games () or simply Hiroshima 1994 (), were held from October 2 to 16, 1994, in Hiroshima, Japan. It was the first Asian Games in history to be hosted in a non-capital city. Th ...

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,, or simply Bangkok 1998 (), were an Asian multi-sport event celebrated in Bangkok, Thailand from December 6 to 20, 1998, with 377 events in 36 sports and di ...

Siew also represented Singapore at three consecutive

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 12 November 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 was recognized for his noble actions in the l ...

, 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 The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provença ...

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'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

'' in 1999.

Personal life

Siew has a daughter,

Savannah Siew Siew Kiah Hui (born 18 June 1996), known as Savannah Siew, is a Singaporean sailor. As the daughter of former national sailor, Siew Shaw Her, Siew followed in her father's footsteps and started learning sailing at the age of 7. Siew tasted ...

, 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 gold medalists in sailing Asian Games silver 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 sailors 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