James Clark (born 15 July 1950) is a British rower who competed in the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

, in the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

, and in the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

Rowing career

Clark won the coxless fours with Lenny Robertson, Bill Mason and

Frederick Smallbone Frederick John Smallbone (born 22 January 1948) is a British rower who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics and in the 1976 Summer Olympics. Rowing career Smallbone won the coxless fours with Jim Clark, Bill Mason and Lenny Robertson, rowing fo ...

, rowing for the Thames Tradesmen's Rowing Club, at the inaugural 1972 National Rowing Championships. Later in 1972 the same crew was selected for Great Britain at the

, where they just failed to reach the final, finishing in fourth place in the semi finals of the men's coxless four. Four years later at the

in Montreal he won the silver medal with the British boat in the eights competition, having also won the world silver medal in eights at the

1974 World Rowing Championships The 1974 World Rowing Championships was the fourth World Rowing Championships. It was held from 4 to 8 September 1974 (for men) and from 29 August to 1 September 1974 (for women) on the Rotsee in Lucerne, Switzerland. The event was significantly ...

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

. At the 1977 (Amsterdam) and 1978 (Karapiro NZ) World Rowing Championships, he won silver medals both years rowing with John Roberts in the coxless pair event. At the 1980 Games in Moscow he and his partner Chris Baillieu finished fourth in the double sculls contest. He won at Henley Royal Regatta a total of eight times and was selected for the GB national team from 1970 until his retirement from competition in 1982. During the early 1970s he was a physical education schoolmaster at Cardinal Vaughan Grammar School, where he taught and coached the future Olympic champion oarsman Martin Cross. Cross identifies Clark as a major influence and inspiration in his memoirs. Subsequently, Clark was master in charge of rowing at Latymer Upper School, where among his early protégés there was the double Olympic rowing gold medallist,

Andy Holmes Andrew John Holmes (15 October 1959 – 24 October 2010)OLNews September 2010
James Clark also coached at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where his sculler

Beryl Mitchell Beryl Crockford (formerly Mitchell; née Martin; 26 June 1950 – 11 September 2016) was a world-champion and Olympic rower who represented Great Britain from 1975 to 1986. In 1985 she married Duncan Crockford and competed as Beryl Crockford aft ...

finished sixth in the final. In 1992 he was the chief Olympic coach to the Danish Rowing Team, where his crew finished seventh in the eights. His wife Lin Clark was one of the most prominent international oarswomen in Britain in the 1970s and 80s, initially as a heavyweight but later (from the early 80s on) as a lightweight. In 1985, coached by Jim and Mark Hayter she and Beryl Crockford (née Mitchell/Martin) were the world champion lightweight double scull crew, and the following year, coached by Jim, she was in the silver-medal-winning lightweight coxless four and winner of the Commonwealth Games.

Personal life

Jim is married to former Olympic athlete Lin Clark with whom he has one daughter, Jessica.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Jim 1950 births Living people British male rowers Olympic rowers of Great Britain Rowers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in rowing World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics