Francis Benedict Hunt-Davis MBE (born 15 March 1972) is a former British competition rower and an Olympic champion. He 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

2001 New Year Honours The 2001 New Year Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British honours system, where New Year's Day, 1 January, is marked in several Commonwealth countries by appointing new members of orders of chivalry and recipie ...

list.

Early life

Hunt-Davis was educated at

Shiplake College Shiplake College is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding and day school in Shiplake, by the River Thames, just outside Henley-on-Thames, England. The school, with 540 pupils, takes girls and boys from 11–18. Originally boys ...

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames, in the South Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, west of M ...

in Oxfordshire. He is the son of Anita and Miles Hunt-Davis, a British Army officer.

Rowing career

Hunt-Davis competed at the 1992 Barcelona games and the 1996 Atlanta games, and won a silver medal in the 1999 World Rowing Championships. He won a gold medal in the Men's VIIIs at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, as a member of the British rowing team, the first British crew to have won this event since 1912.

Life after rowing

Hunt-Davis is a keynote speaker and performance coach, and owns a leadership development company, Will It Make The Boat Go Faster? Ltd with Tom Barry. He has also worked for the

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA; ) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It represents the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), but also incorporate represen ...

, and was the Chairman of the 2011 World Rowing Junior Championships and Chairman of the Organising Committee for the 2013 World Rowing Cup at Eton Dorney. He co-authored ''Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?'' with Harriet Beveridge. On 27 July 2012, Hunt-Davis was one of the crew of the ''

Gloriana ''Gloriana'', Op. 53, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten to an English libretto by William Plomer, based on Lytton Strachey's 1928 ''Elizabeth and Essex: A Tragic History''. The first performance was presented at the Royal Opera Hou ...

'' which rowed with the

Olympic Torch The Olympic flame is a Olympic symbols, symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony s ...

from Hampton Court Palace to Westminster Bridge. Hunt-Davis married Isabella (née Parish) in 2000; they have three children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt-Davis, Ben 1972 births English male rowers Olympic rowers for Great Britain Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics English Olympic competitors Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Stewards of Henley Royal Regatta Living people Olympic medalists in rowing People educated at Shiplake College World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics