Jean Stewart

Jean Hurring (née Stewart, 23 December 1930 – 8 August 2020) was a swimmer from New Zealand. She won a bronze medal in the 100 m backstroke at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Biography Born in Dunedin in 1930, Stewart was educated at Otago Girls' High School. When she was active as a swimmer, New Zealand had no swimming coach, and Stewart was mentored by Bill Wallace, who she described as an "enthusiast". Wallace had an interest in horse racing and from that, Stewart adopted interval training as an innovation. She had also set up a pulley system in her bedroom for weight training that was specific to swimming. She represented her native country at two consecutive Summer Olympics, 1952 and 1956. In 1952 she won the bronze medal in the women's 100 metres backstroke at the Helsinki Games. She shared a room in Helsinki with the only other New Zealand female competitor, Yvette Williams, who was also from Dunedin. Stewart also won medals in the 110 yards backstroke at the Empire Games; silver in 1950 and bronze in 1954. As of 2016, she remains the only New Zealand woman to have won an Olympic swimming medal. Stewart won 12 New Zealand national swimming titles: the 100 yards backstroke every year from 1950 to 1956 except 1955; the 220 yards backstroke every year from 1950 to 1954; and the 100 yards butterfly in 1953.