Thomas Anthony Fox (27 July 1928 – 31 July 2010) was a doctor and

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

who competed for

Great Britain at the 1952 Summer Olympics Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. 257 competitors, 213 men and 44 women, took part in 127 events in 18 sports. In 1952, they achieved their only gold m ...

and at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He won the

Diamond Challenge Sculls The Diamond Challenge Sculls is a Rowing (sport), rowing event for men's single sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. First run in 1844, it is open to male scullers from all eligible rowin ...

and the

Wingfield Sculls The Wingfield Sculls is a Rowing (sport), rowing race held annually on the River Thames in London, England, on the The Championship Course, Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake. The race is between single scullers and is usually on the ...

Biography

Fox was born on

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

, the son of an Irish doctor, William Burton Fox. He was educated at

Sherborne School Sherborne School is a full-boarding school for boys aged 13 to 18 located beside Sherborne Abbey in the Dorset town of Sherborne. The school has been in continuous operation on the same site for over 1,300 years. It was founded in 705 AD by Ald ...

and

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

, where he studied medicine. In 1951 he won the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

. He also won the

and the London Cup in the same year to achieve the rowing triple crown. He then joined

London Rowing Club London Rowing Club (LRC, or colloquially, 'London') is the second-oldest of the non-academic active rowing clubs on the Thames in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1856 by members of the long-disbanded Argonauts Club wishing to compete ...

and 1952 he came second in the Diamond Challenge Sculls to

Mervyn Wood Mervyn Thomas Wood, (30 April 1917 – 19 August 2006) was an Australian rower and police officer. He was an eight-time Australian national sculling champion, four-time Olympian and three-time Olympic medalist. He later rose to become the Commi ...

. He competed in the Summer Olympics at

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

in the

single scull A single scull (or a scull), abbreviated as a 1x, is a racing shell designed for a single person who propels the boat with two oars, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly semi-circular in cross-se ...

s and came fourth overall.Olympic Athletes Anthony Fox
/ref> Later in 1952 he won the Wingfield Sculls again. In 1953 he regained the Diamond Challenge Sculls and retained the Wingfield Sculls for the third year. In 1954, Fox and his partner John Marsden astonished the rowing world by beating the Russian silver medallists in the Double Sculls at Henley. Marsden had beaten Fox in the first

tideway The Tideway is the part of the River Thames in England which is subject to tides. This stretch of water is downstream from Teddington Lock. The Tideway comprises the upper Thames Estuary including the Pool of London. Tidal activity Depending ...

Scullers Head earlier that year. The pair went on to win the European Championships at Amsterdam. In 1956 Fox was runner up to

Teodor Kocerka Teodor Kocerka (6 August 1927 – 25 September 1999) was a Polish rower who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics, those of 1956, and those of 1960. He was born in Bydgoszcz in the mid-north of Poland and died in Warsaw. Olympic events compet ...

in the Diamond Challenge Sculls. He competed in the Summer Olympics at Melbourne but only made it to the second heat. Fox completed his medical training at

St George's Hospital St George's Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Tooting, London. Founded in 1733, it is one of the UK's largest teaching hospitals. It is run by the St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It shares its main hospital site i ...

and joined the family general practice on Guernsey with his father, brother and uncle. He retired to Cornwall in 1989. He died four days after his eighty-second birthday. Fox married Paula Sweby, a nurse at St George's, in 1958 and had four daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Tony 1928 births 2010 deaths People educated at Sherborne School Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge British male rowers Olympic rowers for Great Britain Rowers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1956 Summer Olympics European Rowing Championships medalists