John Cockbill

Along with his father and grandfather Australia’s John Cockbill was a prominent rower in the state of Victoria. In the 1950s Cockbill was a student at Melbourne Grammar School when he started as a coxswain at the nearby the Albert Park Rowing Club. The best coxed pairs in Australia at the time were Robert Duncan and Bruce Dickson who were aiming for Olympic selection for the 1956 Melbourne Games. However their previous coxswains were all now too big so Cockbill, aged only 15, given the opportunity to cox the crew.

Coxed by Cockbill the pair of Duncan and Dickson won the Olympic trial and were selected to represent Australia at their home Olympics. At the Melbourne Games the Australian crew finished in second place in their heat behind the Soviet Union with both teams advancing. In the second heat of the semi-finals Australia finished in third place behind the Unified Team of Germany and the United States but did not make the final.

After the Olympics Cockbill enjoyed success as a coxswain winning the 1957 Victorian Championships in the pairs, fours, and eights. He followed this with coxing the eights to victory in the 1957 Interstate Men’s Championship and being the winning cox in the pairs at the 1959 Victorian Championships.