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, and trained as a teacher at Dunedin Training College. 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 married fellow Dunedin swimmer Lincoln Hurring after the Helsinki Games, and they settled in Auckland. Their son is world silver medalist swimmer Gary Hurring.

Stewart died in Auckland on 8 August 2020 at the age of 89.