For our pupils missing rowing, the regatta season, and what would have been exciting anticipation in the lead-up to the cancelled Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Mr Jones has unearthed an amazing piece of Emanuel trivia.
Incredibly, in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics there were two OEs rowing in the same boat, finishing fifth in the Coxed VIII final, which was an immensely tight race with just over two seconds separating the majority of the crews as they entered the final 500 meters.
Having two rowers in an Olympic final, in the same boat who attended the same secondary school, is exceptionally rare and other such examples are incredibly hard to find.
Clive Roberts (OE1971-77) rowed at four and Malcolm McGowan (OE1967-75) rowed at seven. Malcolm is also the only known OE to win an Olympic medal – a silver in the Coxed VIII in the previous 1980 Olympics. Outside of the Olympics both men had highly distinguished international rowing careers, winning medals at the Rowing World Championships and competing at the business end of most major rowing events from the late 1970s to mid-1980s.
Mr Jones (Senior Librarian and Archivist)