Alastair MacLeod

Alastair MacLeod was captain of the Shrewsbury School rowing crew before going up to Cambridge, where he continued to row with the Lady Margaret Boat Club. He became captain of the Lady Margaret first crew in 1949 and the following year was appointed president of the Cambridge University Boat Club (CUBC). MacLeod was on the winning Boat Race crews of 1949 and 1950, and in 1952 won the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley with Leander, before going to the Helsinki Olympics and finishing fourth in the GB eights.

MacLeod obtained a BA in engineering in 1950 and went into partnership with fellow Olympian Brian Lloyd. In 1961 the pair founded Lloyd International Airways with just a single Douglas DC-4 aircraft based at Cambridge airport. The company expanded and ran regular Trans-Atlantic flights and weekly trips to Hong Kong. MacLeod’s full name was Alastair Leoid MacLeod, and he was a member of the MacLeod Clan which, in Gaelic, is called Clann Leòid.