John Townend

Having missed out when the Weybridge boat was beaten by Thames RC in the Olympic trial to see who should represent Great Britain in the eights at the 1924 Paris Olympics, John Townend was chosen for the coxed fours along with fellow Weybridge men Harry Barnsley, Bernard Croucher, Thomas Monk, and Vince Boveington. Despite not medalling in Paris, the same crew won the NARA Senior Fours, for the Townend Cup, at the Walton-on-Thames Regatta a couple of weeks later.

In July 1926, electrician Townend won the senior fours at the National Amateur Rowing Association (NARA) Regatta on the River Thames at Barnes. His crew members that day included fellow Olympians Croucher, Barnsley and Henry Alvey. Less than three weeks later, Townend was in the Weybridge Rowing Club eights that won the Oxford Cup at the Oxford Royal Regatta. Sadly, before the victory celebrations had finished, Townend was dead.

Having celebrated their victory at Oxford, Townend and other members of the Weybridge Club headed home in a privately hired bus. Amidst celebrations, Townend fell from the top of the open-decked bus onto the road below, and was hit by a car driven by his team-mate Henry Alvey. Townend died from a fractured skull, and an inquest later returned a verdict of accidental death.

Townend’s older brother George was a fellow Weybridge crew member.