JJ Fetter is being inducted tonight into the Brietbard Hall of Fame in San Diego, together with diver Greg Louganis and pitcher David Wells.
"When she started sailing 40 years ago, she had no idea she would become a pioneer in the sport.
But it didn’t take her long to discover that boys and girls — and men and women — were viewed differently in sailing.
“The junior regattas were open to everyone, but there was a winner’s trophy and a ‘first girls’ trophy,” she recalled recently.
“I always wanted just to be first and hand that other trophy off as ‘the first boy trophy.’ ”
“I followed my older sister (Margie) and brother (Trevor) into the junior program at the San Diego Yacht Club,” Fetter recalled. “The program had about a 50-50 split between boys and girls. But as I got into the teenage years, pretty much all my female friends went on to other things.”
At that time, there was primarily only one boat for juniors to sail in Southern California — the Naples Sabot — and no formal sailing programs for high school teams.
“I finished second, third and fourth in the Sabot Nationals, but never won, meaning I was always getting that ‘first girl’ trophy and I hated it,” Fetter said.
Over the past two decades, Fetter, who sailed most of her international career under her married name Isler (she is no longer married to Peter Isler), was named the Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year four times."
See the complete article in the Union-Tribune.
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