Colin Porter

Colin Porter, who became one of the most controversial figures in British post-war rowing, started rowing at King’s School, Canterbury and continued at London University. While serving his National Service in the Royal Air Force (RAF) he rowed for them in the final of the Wyfold Cup at Henley in 1952, and in 1953 Porter led to RAF Rowing Club to victory in both the Wyfold and Thames Cups. The RAF four also went on to win the coxless fours bronze medal at the 1953 European Rowing Championships in Copenhagen. They reached the final of the Stewards’ Cup at Henley in 1954 only to lose to Club Krylia Sovetov, the first Soviet crew to row at Henley. Porter and his RAF four also won the silver medal at that year’s Europeans in Amsterdam.

Porter took up coaching in 1957 and turned the National Provincial Bank crew into a much respected one, and that year they won the Wyfold Cup and reached the final of both the Thames Cup and the European coxless fours. In 1958 Porter was one of the coaches to the Oxford Boat Race crew, and that year he also formed the Barn Cottage Club (part of the Moseley Boat Club) that won that Stewards’ at Henley, and the British Empire and Commonwealth Games gold medal in Cardiff. They also won the Head of the River Race five years in succession from 1958-62.

In 1959 Porter, then with London Rowing Club, reached the final of the Silver Goblets with Michael Beresford and in 1960 he established the combined Barn Cottage-Moseley crew that won the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley. Also that year, Porter took part in the coxless fours at the Roma Olympics and finished fifth. He won two more Commonwealth Games medals at Perth, Australia, in 1962 when he collected bronze in both the coxed fours and eights.

After causing the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA) a lot of grief for over ten years, Porter was appointed a selector in 1963 and the following year became chairman of the ARA board. Porter emigrated to Australia in 1969 where he worked in the hydraulics industry in Sydney and Melbourne, before moving to Perth in 1976.

In 1959 his rowing techniques were published in the book Rowing to Win, and he published his autobiography, A Very Public Servant, in 2004. It told about his career as an engineer and environmentalist in Britain and Australia.