Sherwood took the gold medal at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh with a career best jump of 6.73 metres and finished fourth at the 1971 European Championships in Helsinki. However, in her latter years in the sport she was hindered by back problems. Despite this she was selected for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich where she finished a commendable ninth. Her career as an international long jumper came to a conclusion at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Auckland where she took seventh place.