Jack Beresford

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Jack Beresford
CBE
Beresford at the 1920 Olympics
Personal information
Birth nameJack Beresford-Wiszniewski
Born1 January 1899
Chiswick, West London, England
Died3 December 1977
(aged 78)
Shiplake, Oxfordshire, England
RelativesJulius Beresford (father)
Michael Beresford (nephew)
Children Elizabeth, John, Carina and Pandora
Sport
SportRowing
ClubThames Rowing Club
Leander Club[1]
Medal record
Representing  United Kingdom
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1924 Paris Single sculls
Gold medal – first place 1932 Los Angeles Coxless fours
Gold medal – first place 1936 Berlin Double sculls
Silver medal – second place 1920 Antwerp Single sculls
Silver medal – second place 1928 Amsterdam Eights
Representing  England
British Empire Games
Silver medal – second place 1930 Hamilton Single sculls
Diamond Challenge Sculls
Gold medal – first place 1920 Henley-on-Thames Single sculls
Silver medal – second place 1921 Henley-on-Thames Single sculls
Silver medal – second place 1922 Henley-on-Thames Single sculls
Gold medal – first place 1924 Henley-on-Thames Single sculls
Gold medal – first place 1925 Henley-on-Thames Single sculls
Gold medal – first place 1926 Henley-on-Thames Single sculls
Gold Cup Challenge
Gold medal – first place 1925 Philadelphia Single sculls
Gold medal – first place 1924 Philadelphia Single sculls

Jack Beresford, CBE (1 January 1899 – 3 December 1977), born Jack Beresford-Wiszniewski, was a British rower who won five medals at five Olympic Games in succession.[2] This record in Olympic rowing was not matched until 2000 when Sir Steve Redgrave won his sixth Olympic medal at his fifth Olympic Games.

Early life

Jack Beresford was the son of

First World War he served in the Liverpool Scottish Regiment and was wounded in the leg in France.[3] He returned to London and learned the craft of furniture-making for Beresford & Hicks in his father's factory. He took up sculling because the leg wound put an end to his rugby career. Throughout his competitive career, Beresford (like his father and his brother, Eric Beresford) represented Thames Rowing Club. Michael Beresford was his nephew who competed in rowing at the 1960 Olympics.[4]

Rowing career

Kelly v. Beresford, 1920 Olympics

In 1920, Beresford won the

John B. Kelly Sr. is legendary. It featured a dramatic stretch run with Kelly eventually prevailing in one of the closest single sculls races in Olympic history. In 1920 Beresford won the Wingfield Sculls, the Amateur Sculling Championship of the Thames and Great Britain for the first time, and went on to win it for seven consecutive years, a streak unmatched in history[6]
He also won the London Cup to give him the sculling triple crown in 1920.

Beresford was losing finalist to Eyken in the Diamond Sculls in 1921 but won the London Cup and the Wingfields which was decided on a foul after Beresford's boat was holed in a clash with Gollan. Both scullers were being steered by their fathers and so in 1922 it was decided that in future fathers of competitors should not act as pilots or steer the cutters. Beresford lost Diamonds in the final to Walter Hoover but won the Wingfields and London Cup over Gollan. In 1923 Beresford was in the winning Thames eight in the Grand Challenge Cup. He was runner up in the Diamonds to M. K. Morris, lost to Gollan in the London Cup on a foul, but beat Gollan in the Wingfields.

Beresford won the Diamond Challenge Sculls at Henley again in 1924 against Craig, and went on to win the gold medal in the single scull rowing at the 1924 Summer Olympics over William Gilmore. Following that he competed in and won the Philadelphia Gold Cup, awarded by the Schuylkill Navy for the amateur sculling championship of the world. In 1925, he successfully defended the Diamond Challenge Sculls against Donald Gollan and the Philadelphia Cup against Walter Hoover before indicating to its stewards that he no longer wished to contest it. With the Wingfields and London Cup he won the triple crown. Beresford won the Diamond Challenge Sculls again in 1926 beating G E G Goddard in the final. He won the London Cup again and also the Wingfields, but only after his boat was holed in a clash and the race re-rowed on 11 August.

Beresford was not a winning competitor in 1927, but served as Captain of Thames in 1928-9. In 1928 at Henley he won the

Stewards Challenge Cup and then went on to win the gold medal for Great Britain rowing at the 1932 Summer Olympics
.

In the

oak sapling by Hitler, as were all gold medal winners.[7] Beresford's was planted in the grounds of Bedford School.[8]

In the inaugural Centenary Double Sculls – now the Double Sculls Challenge Cup – at Henley in 1939, Beresford, together with Dick Southwood, raced a memorable final against the European Champions, Scherli and Broschi of Trieste which resulted in a dead-heat.

Beresford was denied the opportunity to win a medal in the double sculls event in the 1940 Olympics as those Games were cancelled because of World War II.

Later life

Dickie Burnell at the 1950 British Empire Games

Beresford was elected a Steward of

Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.[3]
He was President of Thames Rowing Club from 1970 until his death in 1977.

In 2005, a

Blue Plaque was erected by English Heritage at 19 Grove Park Gardens in Chiswick, West London which was Beresford's home from 1903 to 1940. Beresford is one of the first sportsmen to receive this honour.[9]

Achievements

  • Olympic Medals: three gold, two silver
  • First rower to compete at five Olympics with his 1936 Olympic appearance. This feat would be unmatched for forty years until Soviet rower Yuriy Lorentsson made his fifth Olympic appearance in 1976, and unsurpassed for another sixteen years until Czechoslovak rower Jiří Pták made his sixth Olympic appearance in 1992.

References

  1. ^ a b c Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jack Beresford". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  2. ^ "Jack Beresford". Olympedia. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  3. ^ a b Jack Beresford. Encyclopaedia Britannica
  4. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Michael Beresford". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  5. ^ Henley Royal Regatta Results of Final Races 1839–1939 Archived 9 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Wingfield Sculls Record of Races. rowingservice.com
  7. ^ Hitler's Olympic oak gift to Briton axed. The Guardian (19 August 2007). Retrieved on 6 July 2018.
  8. ^ Arthur Mee (January 1951) [April 1939]. The Counties of Bedford and Huntingdon. Hodder & Stoughton. p. 23.
  9. ^ Chiswick History – People Archived 20 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Chiswickhistory.org.uk. Retrieved on 6 July 2018.

External links

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