Alistair James Potts (born 7 July 1971) is a former British

World Champion 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 ...

cox Cox or COX may refer to: Companies * Cox Enterprises, a media and communications company ** Cox Communications, cable provider ** Cox Media Group, a company that owns television and radio stations ** Cox Automotive, an Atlanta-based busines ...

. Potts was born in

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, southwest of central London. It grew up around Chertsey Abbey, founded in AD 666 by Earconwald, St Erkenwald, and gained a municipal charter, market charter from Henry I of Engla ...

, Surrey. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, where he studied

architectural history The history of architecture traces the changes in architecture through various traditions, regions, overarching stylistic trends, and dates. The beginnings of all these traditions is thought to be humans satisfying the very basic need of shelt ...

. He coxed the men's four, men's lightweight eight and women's eight at the 1994 Commonwealth Regatta representing

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. After going up to

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

, at the end of 1994, he was winning coxswain in the record-breaking

CUWBC Cambridge University Women's Boat Club (CUWBC) was the rowing club for women at the University of Cambridge. CUWBC fielded both a lightweight eight that races against Oxford at the Henley Boat Races, and two openweight eights that race at the W ...

crew at the 1995

Women's Boat Race The Women's Boat Race is an annual rowing (sport), rowing race between Cambridge University Boat Club and Oxford University Women's Boat Club. First rowed in 1927, the race has taken place annually since 1964. Since the The Boat Races 2015, 20 ...

. This was quickly followed by coxing Trinity Hall BC to the headship in the

May Bumps The May Bumps (also May Races, Mays) are a set of rowing races, held annually on the River Cam in Cambridge, England. They began in 1887 after separating from the Lent Bumps, the equivalent bumping races held at the end of February or start o ...

. In 1996 Potts was selected for Goldie, which beat Isis by 11 lengths in a then record time. That year, he also won the

Ladies' Challenge Plate The Ladies' Challenge Plate is one of the events at Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. Crews of men's eight-oared boats below the standard of the Grand Challenge Cup can enter, although international standa ...

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 ...

with

CUBC The Cambridge University Boat Club (CUBC) is the rowing club of the University of Cambridge, England. The club was founded in 1828 and has been located at the Goldie Boathouse on the River Cam, Cambridge since 1882. Nowadays, training primaril ...

(rowing as Goldie Boat Club). In 1998 he steered the record-breaking

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Blue Boat The Blue Boat is the highest level boat representing the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge in the universities' annual rowing races on the River Thames, The Boat Race and Women's Boat Race. As of 2016, the women's first VIII ...

in the

Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. It is also known as the Uni ...

. Potts won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

at the 1999 World Championships at

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

, Canada in the coxed four with

Jonny Searle Jonathan "Jonny" William C. Searle (born 8 May 1969) is a British former Olympic rower and subsequently businessman. Along with his brother Greg and coxswain Garry Herbert, Searle won the gold medal in the coxed pair event at the 1992 Olymp ...

, Jonny Singfield,

Rick Dunn Richard C. E. C. Dunn (born 8 March 1976) is a British rower. He won a gold medal at the 2001 World Rowing Championships in Lucerne with the men's coxless four. He represented Great Britain at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the coxless pair A co ...

and Graham Smith.

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

came in 2000 at

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

in the same boat class with Dunn, Smith and

Toby Garbett Toby Garbett (born 14 November 1976 in Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, southwest of central London. It grew up around Chertsey Abbey, founded in AD 666 by Earconwald, St Erkenwald, and gai ...

and Steve Williams. This was the first time Great Britain had won the coxed four at the

World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Championships is an international Rowing (sport), rowing regatta organized by International Rowing Federation, FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer ...

since its inception. That same crew also won the Prince Philip Challenge Cup at Henley. Potts' rowing career finished in 2000 coinciding with the completion of his

doctoral thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

on "The Development of the Playhouse in Seventeenth-Century London". Potts is now a writer and broadcaster, and had a brief acting part in the Australian soap opera ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

'' in 2004. He and his wife Emily are directors of Party Ark, an internet-based children's party supplies business and administer the Titulus Regius website on the history of Richard III. Since 2013 he has been a director of New York–based solar finance company Open Energy Group.

Achievements

Medals: 1 Gold, 1 Silver (Great Britain) *

Medals: 2 Gold (Goldie BC and

Leander Club Leander Club, founded in 1818, is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world, and the oldest non-academic club. It is based in Remenham in Berkshire, England and adjoins Henley-on-Thames. Only three other surviving clubs were founded prior ...

) *

/ Women's Blue Boat Wins: 2 (Cambridge University)

World championships

*2000 – Gold, Coxed Four (with Steve Williams, Rick Dunn, Toby Garbett, Graham Smith) *1999 – Silver, Coxed Four (with Jonny Singfield, Jonny Searle, Rick Dunn, Graham Smith)

References

External links

BBC Interview
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Potts, Alistair 1971 births Living people Cambridge University Boat Club rowers English male rowers British coxswains (rowing) People educated at Winchester College Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Sportspeople from Chertsey Members of Leander Club World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain

Achievements

World championships

See also

References

External links