John Lander (rower)

John Gerard Heath Lander (7 September 1907 – 25 December 1941) was a British rower who competed at the 1928 Summer Olympics. He was killed in action during the Second World War.

John Lander
Personal information
Birth nameJohn Gerard Heath Lander
Born(1907-09-07)7 September 1907
Liverpool, England
Died25 December 1941(1941-12-25) (aged 34)
Stanley, Hong Kong
Sport
SportRowing
ClubFirst Trinity Boat Club
Medal record
Men's rowing
Representing  Great Britain
1928 AmsterdamCoxless four

Lander was born in Liverpool. He attended Shrewsbury School and was in the Shrewsbury crew that won the Ladies' Challenge Plate at Henley Royal Regatta in 1924. He then went to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he rowed for the First Trinity Boat Club. With Edward Vaughan Bevan, Richard Beesly and Michael Warriner, he won an Olympic gold medal in the coxless fours event rowing at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam.[1] They recorded a time of 6:36.0 in the final to beat the U.S. crew by 1 second. In 1929 Lander was expected to be included in the Cambridge crew in the Boat Race, but Richard Beesly, fellow gold medalist and the Cambridge President, called on Tom Brocklebank as stroke instead.

Personal life

Upon leaving Cambridge, Lander took up a business appointment in Hong Kong.[2] After the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong, Lander enlisted as a gunner in the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps.[3][4] He was killed in action near St. Stephen's College on 25 December 1941.[4] Lander is buried at Sai Wan War Cemetery.[3]

References
  1. Sports reference Olympic Sports – John Lander Archived 19 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "John Lander Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  3. "Casualty Details: Lander, John Gerard Heath". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  4. Wordie, Jason (24 February 2013). "My life: Gerry Lander". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 19 May 2020.


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