John Atlee Hunt (11 September 1934 – 13 January 2005) 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 competed in the men's coxless pair event at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

. He was the founder of the successful Australian retail business Hunt Leather.

Varsity, club and state rowing

Hunt's senior club rowing was from the

Melbourne University Boat Club Melbourne University Boat Club is a rowing club in Melbourne, Australia. Its clubhouse or "boat shed" is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register in 2000. According its website, the club claims to be "the oldest rowing club in Australia". In 2015, ...

(MUBC). At the 1953 Australian University Championships he won the single sculls title in MUBC colours, the following year he was in the MUBC eight that won the Australian University Championship titles.Hunt profile at Australian Rowing History
/ref> Between 1956 and 1960 he won four Victorian state titles across three sweep oared boat classes. Hunt first made state selection for Victoria in the 1957 men's eight that contested and won 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 Interstate Regatta. He was also in the Victorian 1959 King's Cup eight when they won a silver medal.

International representative rowing

In 1960, on the strength of their Victorian state title win, Hunt and his MUBC teammate

Terry Davies Terence John Davies MBE (24 September 1933 – 5 August 2021) was a Welsh international full back who played club rugby for Swansea and Llanelli. He won 21 caps for Wales and was selected to play in the British Lions on the 1959 tour of Aus ...

were selected to race Australia's coxless pair at the 1960 Tokyo Olympics. They were eliminated in the repechage.

Family and business

John Hunt was the grandson of Atlee Arthur Hunt, a federation era Australian public servant. John and his wife Elizabeth started the Hunt Leather Australian luggage and leathergoods retail business in 1975. The business has been largely successful over its 50 year history and as of 2023 was still family owned and run by their daughter Sophie as CEO. Hunt died on 13 January 2005, at the age of 70.

References

Sources

Hunt at World Rowing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, John 1934 births 2005 deaths Australian male rowers Olympic rowers for Australia Rowers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Rowers from Western Australia Sportsmen from Western Australia 20th-century Australian sportsmen