Early career He started skating at age nine. Even as a young skater, he was known for his artistry and his spirals. This attracted the attention of Olympic bronze medallist
Toller Cranston. Cranston was about to retire from show skating and he envisioned a final tribute show in which he and other skaters passed down their knowledge of skating and life lessons to a young skater. This skater was Shawn Sawyer. Cranston remains a mentor to Sawyer. In 1999, Sawyer won the bronze medal on the novice level at the
Canada Winter Games, skating with a bad cold. The following year, he won the national novice title. He skated on the
Junior Grand Prix the following season and won the bronze medal at his first event. His fifth-place finish at his second event prevented him from qualifying for the JGP Final. At Nationals, he placed 4th in the junior level. On the JGP the following season, he qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final, where he placed fifth, and then won the national Junior title. This earned him a trip to the
2002 Junior Worlds, where he placed 11th after performing an entirely new long program.
Senior career At the
2004 Cup of Russia, Sawyer's first senior international event, he placed just off the podium. He placed ninth at the
2004 NHK Trophy. At
nationals, he won the bronze medal, earning him a trip to the
2005 Four Continents. His podium finish did not earn him a spot to Worlds because Canada had only two spots to the
2005 World Championships. In the 2005–2006 season, the Olympic season, Sawyer placed in the middle of the fields in his two Grand Prix events. But he held on to the bronze position at
Nationals, earning him a spot to the Olympics and to Worlds. He placed 12th at the
Olympics and 21st at
Worlds, held in Calgary. In the 2006–2007 season, Sawyer placed just off the podium at the
Skate Canada competition. Sawyer then placed 8th at the Grand Prix event in
Paris. At
Nationals, he was ahead after the short program, but a charismatic comeback performance by
Emanuel Sandhu pushed Sawyer down to 4th, depriving him of a spot to
Four Continents and
Worlds. In the 2007–2008 season, Sawyer placed 7th at his first event, the
2007 Cup of China. At his second event, the
2007 NHK Trophy, he placed 9th. At the
2008 Canadian Championships, he won his third bronze medal at that competition. This earned him a trip to the
2008 Four Continents, where he placed 9th. The 2008–2009 season started off with two back to back competitions for Sawyer. He opened the season at
2008 Skate America where he placed fifth and then continued to
2008 Skate Canada International where he again placed fifth. Even though his overall placement was fifth, he did win the free skate with a score of 142.36. In 2009–2010, Sawyer was awarded the silver medal at
Skate America, but placed fourth at
Canadian Nationals, narrowly missing a trip to the 2010 Olympic Games by two spots. In 2010–2011, he won the silver at the
2011 Canadian Championships and was named to the team for the
World Championships. After the
Japan earthquake, the event was postponed by a month and now coincided with his commitment to Stars on Ice. Sawyer decided to withdraw from the World Championships and was replaced by
Kevin Reynolds. He decided to end his competitive career. He continued to perform in ice shows, such as
Art on Ice. == Signature moves ==