David Macklin

David Macklin attended Felsted School before going to St. John’s College, Cambridge where he was a member of the Lady Margaret Boat Club. He became a rowing Blue in 1951 when he was No.2 in the Cambridge boat that won the re-run race, after Oxford sank first time out, by 12 lengths. He then went to the USA with the university crew and enjoyed famous victories over both Harvard and Yale. Macklin was also in the Lady Margaret eight that won the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley in 1951. It was the first of three successive Grands for him, as he was bow for the Leander eight that won in 1952 and 1953. Macklin was also in the Great Britain eight that finished fourth in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. In 1951, however, he was a member of the last British eight to win an international title prior to the 2000 Olympics, when they beat Denmark by just three feet (0,91m) in the European Championships at Mâcon, France. Macklin had won a bronze medal at Milano the previous year.

Macklin qualified as a solicitor and, after a brief spell in private practice, joined the Warwickshire County Council (CC) and, thereafter, worked for county councils around England. He was the deputy clerk of Devon CC before taking up a similar appointed with Derbyshire CC. He also had a spell as assistant solicitor at Devon. In 1973 Macklin was appointed the first chief executive of Lincolnshire CC before returning to Devon as the County Council chief executive and clerk to the magistrates’ courts committee. Macklin was awarded the CBE in 1988.

Macklin’s wife was a Scottish international hockey and squash player and their granddaughter Fiona rowed at No.2 for Cambridge in the 2016 Women’s Boat Race and. Like her grandfather she also attended St John’s College; however, unlike her grandfather, she was not on the winning Boat Race crew.