At the tender age of 16 at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, impressionable young Mississauga swimmer Jane Kerr faced her first real international “major league” test. She collected nothing but butterflies — and experience. She was too busy looking at her opponents in awe rather than thinking of a medal.

 

     Jane was quick to put her Los Angeles Olympic experience to good use though and soon blossomed from a good age-group swimmer to stardom as Canada’s outstanding freestyle and individual medley sprint and mid-distance competitor.

 

     Barely a year after Los Angeles, at the 1985 Canadian Summer National Championships, she won three gold and a bronze medal and in the process set a national 200-metre freestyle record. That record was something special for Jane, because it broke the mark held by her cousin (and idol) Wendy Quirk.

Born and raised in Mississauga, Jane is a true-blue home talent whose impressive competitive career earned her an Olympic bronze medal, a lofty position among the world’s best and opened the door to the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame.

 

     Jane took to the pool early and it didn’t take her long to show promise, receiving top-notch coaching at the Etobicoke Pepsi Swim Club, where she spent her Canadian competitive career being coached mostly by Paul Bergen. She first emerged as a budding international prospect at 13 in 1981 when she won a Canada/England/Sweden tri-country swim meet.

 

     The rest is swimming history. Her competitive record, both Canadian and international, is the kind many swimmers dream of and only a few ever achieve. Five years on the national team; national champion 32 times; high-point winner at the national championships four times; 200 metre freestyle record holder — and that covers only Jane’s Canadian achievements.

 

     Winning gold medals (and an assortment of lesser ones) at both the ‘83 winter short course and summer long course national championships qualified Jane for the 1983 Pan American Games. She came home with three silver medals, one in the 100-metre freestyle and two in relays.

     She made a rather large splash at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland winning an individual gold medal in the 100-metre freestyle, silver in the 200-metre freestyle and bronze in the 200-metre individual medley in addition to gold, silver and bronze medals in relay events. It represented a medal haul that had never before been achieved by a woman swimmer in Commonwealth Games history. In the 1987 Pan Pacific Games in Brisbane, Australia, Jane’s sterling effort helped Canada to second place in the 4x200 medley relay.

 

     The 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, represented another milestone in Jane’s career. At 20, she was the veteran member of the Canadian women’s swim team. She had proven her mettle at the Olympic trials by winning the 100- and 200- metre freestyles and the 100 metre butterfly qualified her for three individual Olympic berths. Her experience came in handy helping Canada to a bronze medal place on the medal podium in the 4x100 metre relay.

 

     Jane’s achievements have been recognized nationally. In ‘87, she was presented with the Sports Excellence Award and following the Seoul Olympics with the Champions Testimonial. Jane was also chosen Mississauga’s Female Amateur Athlete of the Year three times (1985, ‘86 and ‘88).

Jane also left her mark on the U.S. collegiate scene. Following a year as a psychology student at the University of Toronto, she attended the University of Florida in Gainsville on an athletic scholarship. She graduated with honours in Business Administration and while winning a handful of NCAA swimming championship events. She was All-American 23 times, five-time SEC champion and team captain of the University of Florida women’s swim team in 1991-’92.

 

     Not bad for a Mississauga girl.