Henry Fieldman made history by becoming the first Olympian to win medals in both men’s and women’s events.

Image credits: John Walton/PA Images

The 35-year-old athlete is a coxswain. In a rowing team, a coxswain is the member of the team who steers the boat, facing toward the crew while they row.

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Highlights

• Henry Fieldman is the first to win Olympic medals in both men's and women's events.
• He secured bronze in men's eight at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and women's eight in Paris.
• His involvement is due to a 2017 rule allowing coxswains to be of any gender.

 

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Row New York defines them as the brains of the boat. “They steer, they motivate, they execute strategy during races, and they coach during practices,” the organization explains.

Though they put in the least amount of physical effort on the boat, coxswains are essential for guiding it in the right direction as quickly as possible. 

In addition to steering the boat, executing race plans, and giving instructions, this team member also has access to real-time data about the race, including the distance rowers achieve with each stroke and the times of each boat at various stages of the course, The Telegraph reported.

In the Olympics, coxswains are miked up, and four crew members are tasked with passing on their instructions throughout the boat.

The rowing eights are the only boats that still use coxes at Olympic regattas.

A British athlete has made history after becoming the first Olympian to win medals in both men’s and women’s events

 

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Henry first represented Team Great Britain at the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics, claiming a bronze medal in the men’s eight rowing team.

Before securing an Olympic medal, he won bronze at Bulgaria’s 2018 World Rowing Championships. The following year, he won another bronze at Austria’s 2019 World Rowing Championships.

On Saturday (August 3), he added another medal to his collection in the women’s eight.

His inclusion in the team was made possible by a 2017 World Rowing rule that allows the coxswain to be either a man or a woman.

Henry and the women’s team qualified for the Olympics by finishing fourth at the 2023 World Championship.

Henry Fieldman is a rowing coxswain, the member of the team who steers the boat, facing toward the crew while they row

Image credits: Peter Byrne/PA Images

Image credits: Eurosport

In Paris, they won bronze at the event at Vaires-sur-Marne, a moment that Henry described as “a real joy” and the “honor of [his] life.”

“They only changed the rule in 2017, so someone was going to do it, and it just happened to be me,” he shared.

“Each stroke, on average, is harder [for the women than the men], and I’ve been super-impressed by them.

“They are a really supportive group. We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs and challenges.”

Heidi Long, Rowan McKellar, Holly Dunford, Ford, Lauren Irwin, Eve Stewart, Harriet Taylor, and Annie Campbell-Orde—coxed by Henry Fieldman—battled all the way to the line to finish behind champions Romania and Tokyo winners Canada, the BBC reported on Saturday.

The 35-year-old won bronze with the women’s eight team on Saturday (August 3)

Image credits: Peter Byrne/PA Images

 

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The women’s bronze is only Britain’s second medal in the event after their silver at the Rio Olympics in 2016, and it comes after they failed to make the final in Tokyo, the broadcast added.

Rowing events in the Olympics have been held for men since 1900 and for women since 1976.

The Hammersmith native chose to change teams because he considered that his opposite number, Harry Brightmore, would be “a better fit for the men, and [he] would be better for the women.”

The men’s eight team secured a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. They have now won medals in the eights at five consecutive Games, including gold in Rio in 2016.

“They only changed the rule in 2017, so someone was going to do it, and it just happened to be me,” he said

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Henry has received support from various members of his crew, such as rower Heidi Long, who said before the Olympic Rowing Regatta: “He brings out the best in all of us, so we could not do it without him.”

“We’re a big group and he keeps us all on exactly the same thing—he takes away all the worry from what we have to do. 

“We know that when we’re sitting at the start line, absolutely everything’s been taken care of.”

Additionally, Harriet Taylor mentioned that the role of the coxswain in a race “is often quite undervalued, and maybe under-rated by people who don’t really understand rowing.”

Henry also claimed a bronze medal when he competed in the men’s eight team at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics

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The two-time Olympic medalist plans to extend his contribution to the women’s team.

“I hope that now that we’ve had two Olympic medals in the women’s eight that this could be the start of more women’s eight medals to come—stepping on to greater things,” the athlete said.

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