Edward Coode, MBE (born 19 June 1975) is a British rower, twice World Champion and Olympic Gold medalist.

Early life

Born in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

in 1975, Coode boarded at Papplewick School and

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

. He studied marine biology at

University of Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick unive ...

and

Keble College Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to t ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

, and rowed in the Oxford crew at the 1998

Boat Race Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

Career

Coode won his first World Championship in 1999, as a substitute in the British men's coxless four, rowing with

Steve Redgrave Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave (born 23 March 1962) is a British retired rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships gold ...

Matthew Pinsent Sir Matthew Clive Pinsent, (; born 10 October 1970) is an English rower and broadcaster. During his rowing career, he won 10 world championship gold medals and four consecutive Olympic gold medals. Since retiring, he has worked as a sports b ...

and

James Cracknell James Edward Cracknell, (born 5 May 1972) is a British athlete, rowing champion and double Olympic gold medalist. Cracknell was appointed OBE for "services to sport" in the 2005 New Year Honours List. Biography Cracknell began rowing whilst ...

. When Tim Foster returned to the four, Coode was put into the coxless pair with Greg Searle. They finished fourth at the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug language, Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport ...

having led for most of the race and being overtaken by three crews in the last 600 m, finishing 12/100th of a second (about 2 feet) out of third place. In 2001, he won a second World Championship in the men's coxless four with Steve Williams, Rick Dunn and Toby Garbett. In 2002, he missed the World Championships due to injury, Josh West taking his place in the coxless four, and was in the men's eight in 2003 that won the bronze at that year's world championships. With the injury to Alex Partridge, Coode was moved from the eight to the coxless four for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, rowing with Pinsent, Cracknell and Williams. In a close race with World champions Canada, they won gold.

Retirement

In October 2004, Coode announced he was retiring from rowing – taking a year out to travel in South America and then study for a law degree at

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...

in Bristol. Following two years at university he spent two years as a trainee solicitor at Bristol firm Burges Salmon, before qualifying and joining family law firm Coodes Solicitors, which has branches across Cornwall.

Personal life

Coode was appointed Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2005 New Year Honours New Year Honours were granted in the United Kingdom and New Zealand at the start of 2005. Among these in the UK were knighthoods awarded to Mike Tomlinson, the educationalist; Derek Wanless, who led a review of the National Health Service; and ...

for services to sport. On 17 September 2005 Coode married Clare Smales in the St Mary's and St Julian's Church,

Maker Maker(s) or The Maker(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''The Maker'' (film), a 1997 American drama film *'' Makers: Women Who Make America'', a 2013 American TV documentary, a 2014 TV series, and related media *Maker Studios, now part of D ...

, Cornwall. Their daughter Beatrice Mary Arundell Coode (Bee) was born in February 2007. Their second daughter Ottilie Mary Loveday was born in March 2009.Births, Marriages and Deaths – Times Online
/ref> Their first son Johnny was born at Christmas 2011 and their second son Wilfred was born in July 2013.

Achievements

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

Medals: 1 Gold *

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Medals: 2 Gold, 2 Bronze * Junior World Championship Medals: 1 Silver *

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Blue Boat (lost)

Olympic Games

*2004 – Gold, Coxless four (with

, Steve Williams,

) *2000 – 4th, Coxless pair (with Greg Searle)

World championships

*2003 – Bronze, Eight *2001 – Gold, Coxless four (with Steve Williams, Rick Dunn, Toby Garbett) *1999 – Gold, Coxless four (with

) *1998 – 7th, Eight *1997 – Bronze, Coxed four

Junior World championships

*1993 – Silver, Coxless four

References

External links

Ed Coode – The London Speaker Bureau
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coode, Ed 1975 births Living people English male rowers British male rowers Olympic rowers of Great Britain Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics English Olympic medallists Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain People educated at Papplewick School People educated at Eton College Alumni of Newcastle University Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Members of the Order of the British Empire Members of Leander Club Sportspeople from Cornwall Oxford University Boat Club rowers Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain