Although many of you will be aware of the success of Old Bedfordians in rowing at recent Olympic games, you may not have heard of Jack Beresford (1913-17) the first person to win 5 medals for rowing (an endurance sport) at 5 consecutive Olympic games. Between 1920 and 1936, Jack won three gold medals and two silver medals. This record remained unbeaten until the 2000 Sydney Olympics when another Englishman, Sir Steve Redgrave, won his 5th medal.
Last Thursday evening Jack’s son, and Old Bedfordian, John Beresford (59-64), treated us to a fantastic talk about his father, using many photos and memorabilia that his father had collected throughout his life. From his early days rowing as a boy, through his experiences in the trenches during the first world war, and onto his rowing successes after the war, John kept us enthralled throughout the talk. We were even shown a clip of his
father winning gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics under the watchful eye of Adolf Hitler.
You can watch the full talk on youtube via this link.
If you would like to read more about Jack’s life, John has written a book entitled ‘Jack Beresford, An Olympian At War’ which is available via the Online School Shop or on Amazon.
The BSA are running a series of Online talks this term. You can sign up for the talks below.