Jack Beresford

Jack Beresford ( born January 1, 1899 in Chiswick, † December 3, 1977 in Shiplake, Oxfordshire ) was a British rower who won between the two world wars in the Olympics three gold and two silver medals.

He was the son of coming from Poland Furniture manufacturer Julius Beresford (original surname Wiszniewski ), who had won in Stockholm in the Olympic Summer Games 1912 in rowing, a silver medal in the coxed four.

During the First World War, Jack Beresford was wounded in France, returned to London and took over conducting duties at the furniture factory of his father. In 1920 he took in Antwerp for the first time in the Olympic Games and won a silver medal in One. In the four subsequent sweeps he won a medal: 1924 Paris Gold in One, 1928 in Amsterdam silver in the eighth, 1932 in Los Angeles gold in the coxless four and in Berlin in 1936 gold in double sculls.

At the games in Berlin Jack Beresford was during the opening ceremony flag bearer of the British delegation. He was filmed by Leni Riefenstahl, the scene two years later in the controversial documentary Olympia - used Festival of the Nations. Had 1940 the games have not been canceled in Tokyo, Beresford would probably have won a sixth medal. He also won numerous British championship title; so he was, for example, 1920-1927 eight times in a row champion in One; a performance that was unmatched until today.