Douglas V Melvin (born 1928, died 5 May 2021) was a British rower who twice won 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 ...

, the amateur sculling championship of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

. Melvin was born at

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

. He took a job there with the

Electricity Board Public electricity suppliers (PES) were the fourteen electricity companies created in Great Britain when the electricity market in the United Kingdom was privatised following the Electricity Act 1989. The Utilities Act 2000 subsequently split the ...

, and was working there and rowing for John O'Gaunt Rowing Club when he won the

in 1955. He was encouraged by Eric Phelps to join

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 was able to transfer his Electricity Board job to

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

in order to do so. This gave him the opportunity to train alongside other notable scullers at the club including Farn Carpmael, John Marsden, Tony Fox and

John Pinches John Harvey Pinches (9 April 1916 – 2 July 2007) was an English rowing (sport), rower, Royal Engineers officer, medallist and author. Pinches was born at Chelsea, London, the son of John Robert Pinches and Irene Inchbold. His father was a meda ...

. In 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 ...

in 1955 he reached the semi-final where he met

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 ...

, the eventual winner. He went on to represent Great Britain in the single sculls at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

later the same year. In 1956 he was selected as the spare man for the Great Britain team for 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 ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. After his boat and blades were shipped off to the Games he was de-selected in favour of someone more inclined to

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

rather than

sculling Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, its ...

. Later in 1956, he became the first winner of the Weybridge Silver Sculls. In 1957 he won the Scullers Head of the River Race and 1958, the Wingfield Sculls again. In 1960 Melvin retired from competitive rowing to concentrate on his career. However he became a coach and a GB selector. In later years he returned to competitive rowing as a veteran oarsman and sculler. In 2000 he was elected President of London Rowing Club and held the office for four years. He was the President of John O'Gaunt Rowing Club from 1966 to 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melvin, Doug 1928 births English male rowers 2021 deaths Sportspeople from Lancaster, Lancashire