Update: America's Grandparent Olympian

Sailor John Dane, the only grandfather on the U.S. Olympic team, is heading home after an eventful stay in Beijing

"It was a heck of a ride."

John Dane meant that figuratively and literally.

Dane, a 58-year-old sailor from Gulfport, Miss., was the only grandparent to compete for the United States in the Beijing Olympics. He said his experience at his first Games was nothing short of spectacular, even though he and his son-in-law, Austin Sperry, did not make it to the medal round. The duo competed in the Star class, a keel boat with two crew members.

"I wish we could have done better, but I'm proud to have represented my country here," Dane said on his cell phone from the Chinese port city of Qingdao, 350 miles from Beijing, where the sailing competition took place.

Onshore, Dane is the CEO of Trinity Yachts Inc., a company that builds luxury yachts. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed his company headquarters in New Orleans and his home, in Pass Christian, Miss. Dane purchased 100 mobile-home trailers for his employees, kept the office in New Orleans, and moved his production facility to Gulfport. He now has almost 1,000 employees, up from 550 at the time of the hurricane.

Dane, grandfather of an 8-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl, first tried out for the Olympics in 1968 when he was 18, finishing second in the U.S. trials. In the ensuing years, he sailed in six more trials, finishing as high as fourth, third, and second again, but never qualifying for the Olympics.

In 2005, he paired with a new crewmate — son-in-law Sperry, who had met Dane's daughter, Sally, while competing in a regatta in Mississippi in 1999. Last year, at the U.S. Olympic trials, Sperry helped Dane finally win an Olympics berth.

At the Games, Dane and Sperry led the Star-class competition after the first two days, finishing eighth, second, and fourth in the first three races. But they dropped to 12th, 15th, 15th, and 16th, respectively, in the next four races. In all, after 11 races over six days of sailing, Dane and Sperry finished in 11th-place out of 16 boats — one spot short of qualifying for the medal round. "We did our best," Dane said. "I won't trade the experience."

To learn more about John Dane, click here, and to see the results of his races, visit Nbcolympics.com. Elsewhere on Grandparents.com, find out what grandfathers can teach their grandchildren, read our interview with Speaker of the House and grandmother Nancy Pelosi, and find out the 25 reasons kids love grandparents.