George Justicz

Czechoslovakian-born George Justicz moved to England as a youngster and settled in the Birmingham area. He joined the Birmingham Rowing Club and was club captain in 1957-58. In the latter of those years he reached the semi-final of the Diamond Sculls at Henley.

Having competed with Nicholas Birkmyre in the coxless pairs at the 1959 European Championships, Justicz again partnered Birkmyre in the double sculls at the 1960 Roma Olympics. The following year the duo won silver at the Europeans behind the 1956 Olympic champions Alexsandr Berkutov and Yury Tyukalov of Russia, who captured their fifth consecutive European gold. At the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia, Justicz and Birkmyre won the double sculls gold medal. Having been runners-up in the Double Sculls Challenge Cup at Henley in 1959, Justicz and Birkmyre won it four times between 1960-64. Justicz also won the coveted Wingfield sculls at Henley in 1960.

A Birmingham businessman in the food sector, Justicz later became a British team rowing selector and coach, until his resignation in 1974. Justicz was still rowing as a veteran at the age of 60, and in 1991, in his 61st year, he competed in the County of Chester Long Distance Sculling Championship, 33 years after winning the race.

Justicz later emigrated to the United States where his two sons were educated before going to Cambridge and became rowing Blues. In 1992 they became the first siblings to row for Cambridge in the Boat Race since Jim and Mike Hart in 1972. Justicz’s granddaughter Hannah (Max’s daughter) was also a rower at Stanford University.