Donald Redden Palmer (1927 – 1 November 1980) was an Australian representative

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 ...

. He was a three time national champion and competed in the men's coxless pair event at 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 ...

Club and state rowing

Palmer's senior club rowing was from

Sydney Rowing Club Sydney Rowing Club is the oldest rowing club in New South Wales, Australia formed in 1870. It has occupied its current site on Port Jackson's Parramatta River at Abbotsford, New South Wales, Abbotsford Point since 1874. The club has a focus on it ...

.Palmer at Australian Rowing History
/ref> His first state selection for New South Wales was into the 1949 men's senior eight to contest 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 annual Interstate Regatta, however he was the reserve for that crew and did not row. Palmer did make four further New South Wales King's Cup appearances with podium finishes every time. In 1950 (gold), in 1951 (gold), in 1952 (silver), and in 1954 (silver). In 1953 with Ernie Chapman he was selected for New South Wales to race the coxless pair Interstate Championship. They won the title. En route to the 1952 Helsinki Olympics the Australian men's sweep squad selected an eight which raced as

entrants in the

Grand Challenge Cup The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing (sport), rowing competition for men's eight (rowing), eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male cr ...

at the 1952

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 ...

. Palmer was in the two seat of that Sydney crew which made the final and finished as runners up to

Leander Leander is one of the protagonists in the story of Hero and Leander in Greek mythology. Leander may also refer to: People * Leander (given name) * Leander (surname) Places * Leander, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * L ...

International representative rowing

The Australian men's eight selected for the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games were the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. A documentary fil ...

was the winning 1949 New South Wales King's cup crew in which Palmer was a reserve. He was also selected as a reserve for the Empire Games eight. For the 1952 Helsinki Olympics the 1951 New South Wales King's Cup crew was selected as the Australian men's eight. By the time of final seat selections Palmer at three and Vic Middleton in the two seat had been replaced by Ernie Chapman and Don Anderson who'd been reserves in the NSW eight. Palmer and Middleton rowed a men's coxless pair in Helsinki. They won their heat, were second in their semi-final but the system of the time then put them into a second repechage where they were knocked out.1952 Helsinki at Australian Rowing History
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Don 1927 births 1980 deaths Australian male rowers Olympic rowers for Australia Rowers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Rowers from Sydney Sportsmen from New South Wales 20th-century Australian sportsmen