Ewart Horsfall
Olympic medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Men's rowing | ||
1912 Stockholm | Men's eight | |
1920 Antwerp | Men's eight |
Ewart Douglas Horsfall DFC, MC (24 May 1892 – 1 February 1974) was a British rower who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics and in the 1920 Summer Olympics.
Horsfall was born in Liverpool, the son of Howard Douglas Horsfall and was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford. He arrived at Oxford with an outstanding reputation as a rower and in 1912 was in the winning Oxford boat in the Boat Race. He joined Leander Club and was a member of the Leander eight which won the gold medal for Great Britain rowing at the 1912 Summer Olympics. At the age of 20, he was the youngest member of the crew.[1]
Horsfall stroked Oxford in the Boat Race in 1913 and became the first stroke to win the Boat Race after being behind at Barnes Railway Bridge. However Oxford lost in 1914, when Horsfall rowed at number four. He won the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta four times – three times as a stroke – and he twice stroked the winning crew in the Stewards' Challenge Cup at Henley on the two occasions when he competed.
At the outbreak of the First World War, Horsfall joined the Rifle Brigade but later transferred to the Royal Flying Corps;[2] He qualified as a pilot on 31 December 1914,[3] and reached the rank of squadron leader. He achieved a rare double of being awarded the Military Cross in 1916 and the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1918.
After the war, he returned to Oxford to help re-establish rowing at the University. He was strokeman of the Leander eight which won the silver medal for Great Britain rowing at the 1920 Summer Olympics, coming within half a length of winning. In 1947 Horsfall was elected a Steward of Henley Royal Regatta and the following year he was manager of the British Olympic Rowing team.
Horsfall married Myra Downing Fullerton, daughter of Frederick Downing Fullerton in 1923.[4]
See also
References
- ^ Sports Reference Olympic Sports - Ewart Horsfall
- ^ Supplement to the London Gazette, 14 January.. 1916.
- ^ Burnett was awarded Aviator's Certificate no. 1032 on 31 December 1914
- ^ Flight 10 May 1923
External links
- The Scottish War Memorials Project - Photos of Eton Eight
- Use dmy dates from April 2012
- 1892 births
- 1974 deaths
- Sportspeople from London
- Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
- British Army personnel of World War I
- English male rowers
- British male rowers
- Olympic rowers of Great Britain
- People educated at Eton College
- Rowers at the 1912 Summer Olympics
- Rowers at the 1920 Summer Olympics
- English Olympic medallists
- Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain
- Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain
- Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
- Recipients of the Military Cross
- Royal Flying Corps officers
- Stewards of Henley Royal Regatta
- Olympic medalists in rowing
- Members of Leander Club
- Oxford University Boat Club rowers
- Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics