David Rollo Anderson (born 8 April 1932) is an Australian

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 in the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

, the

1954 Commonwealth Games The 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from 30 July to 7 August 1954. This was the fifth edition of the event that would eventually become known as the Commonwealth Games, the second post-war G ...

and in the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

Club and state rowing

Anderson attended

Sydney Boys High School Sydney Boys High School ('SBHS'), otherwise known as Sydney High School ('SHS') or simply High, is an Australian government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located at Moore Park, New South Wales, a s ...

, graduating in 1948. Both Nimrod Greenwood and Edward Pain, who were in the Australian eight at the

with Anderson, also attended Sydney High. Anderson did his senior rowing at the

Leichhardt Rowing Club Leichhardt Rowing Club formed in 1886 is one of the oldest rowing clubs in Sydney, Australia. The clubhouse has occupied sites on Port Jackson's, Iron Cove at Leichhardt, New South Wales, Leichhardt since 1886. Leichhardt is an all-level competit ...

in Sydney. The Guerin-Foster Rowing History site quotes the Leichhardt Centennial History of 1986 wherein Anderson is referred to as the most prominent interstate and international Leichhardt rower up until 1986. In eight consecutive seasons from 1950 to 1957 he was selected in the New South Wales state eight which contested the

King's Cup King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King's Cup (Bahrain), the premier national knockout football tournament * King's ...

at the

Australian Rowing Championships The Australian Rowing Championships is an annual rowing event that determines Australia's national rowing champions and facilitates selection of Australian representative crews for World Championships and the Olympic Games. It is Australia's pre ...

. The New South Wales crew were national champions in 1950 and 1951 and were selected in toto as the Olympic representative eight for 1952.

International representative rowing

In 1952, he was in the four seat of the Australian boat which won the bronze medal in the eights event at the

Helsinki Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

.Anderson at Australian Rowing History
/ref> Four years later at 1956 Melbourne he stroked Australia's coxless four which was eliminated in the semi-final stage of that competition. In the interim, for the

1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from 30 July to 7 August 1954. This was the fifth edition of the event that would eventually become known as the Commonwealth Games, the second post-war G ...

in Vancouver as was customary, that year's winning King's Cup eight - Victoria - were invited to represent as the Australian crew. They declined citing concerns on funding and the racing standard and so a squad was selected which comprised three New South Wales scullers in

Wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

, Evatt and

Riley Riley may refer to: Businesses * Riley (brand), British sporting goods brand founded in 1878 * Riley Motor, British motorcar and bicycle manufacturera 1890–1969 * Riley Technologies, American auto racing constructor and team, founded by Bob ...

and two sweep oarsmen from the New South Wales eight - Geoff Williamson and Anderson. The squad were able to contest the single and double scull, a pair and coxed four. Anderson and Williamson won bronze rowing as the coxless pair and then with the two scullers Wood and Evatt up the bow end, they won gold as a coxed four steered by Anderson's Leichhardt club coxswain

Lionel Robberds Lionel Philip Robberds, AM, King's Counsel (2 April 1939 – 31 March 2024) was an Australian representative rowing coxswain, national representative and world champion squash player and barrister. In rowing, he was seven times a national c ...

Personal

Anderson is the father of Wendy Laidlaw, who competed in the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

women's basketball team at the

1984 Olympic Games The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an i ...

held in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

.Anderson, David and Laidlaw, Wendy
National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 September 2012.

References

External links

Leichhardt History at Guerin-Foster
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, David 1932 births Living people Australian male rowers Olympic rowers for Australia Rowers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists in rowing Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in rowing Rowers at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Place of birth missing (living people) People educated at Sydney Boys High School 20th-century Australian sportsmen