Rooney William John Massara (born 22 January 1943 in Sutton, Surrey) is a retired British rower who competed at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

and a sailor.

Rowing career

Massara was part of the winning eights crew, rowing for a

Tideway Scullers Tideway Scullers School is a rowing (sport), rowing club on the Tideway of the River Thames next to Chiswick Bridge in Chiswick, London. The club previously held the headship for the Head of the River Race (2009), the largest UK eights event, a ...

and

Leander Leander is one of the protagonists in the story of Hero and Leander in Greek mythology. Leander may also refer to: People * Leander (given name) * Leander (surname) Places * Leander, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Le ...

composite, at the inaugural 1972 National Rowing Championships. Massara was then selected to represent Great Britain at the 1972 Olympics, replacing Dick Findlay in the men's coxed four event. The crew finished in tenth place after being knocked out in the semi finals. He was a member of winning crew in the

Wyfold Challenge Cup The Wyfold Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's coxless fours at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from a single rowing club. Boat clubs from any university, college ...

(1967) and

Grand Challenge Cup The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing competition for men's eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing cl ...

(1971) at the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...

. He was in the winning

crew in the

Head of the River Race The Head of the River Race (HORR) is an against-the-clock ('processional') sport rowing, rowing race held annually on the River Thames in London, England between eights, other such races being the Schools' Head of the River Race, Women's Head of ...

for eights, on three occasions. He was also runner up in the

Wingfield Sculls The Wingfield Sculls is a rowing race held annually on the River Thames in London, England, on the Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake. The race is between single scullers and is usually on the Saturday three to four weeks before the Sc ...

in 1968. Massara represented Great Britain from 1969 until 1972 and was captain of the Tideway Scullers from 1969 until 1972. He became a selector for the British Rowing team from 1973 until 1976 (Chairman in 1976).

Sailing

Sailed in

Flying Dutchman (dinghy) The Flying Dutchman is a Dutch planing sailing dinghy that was designed by Uus Van Essen and Conrad Gülcher as a high performance, one design racer and first built in 1951. The boat was an Olympic sailing class from 1960 until 1992. Pro ...

Olympic class dingy with Tim Lester at the helm from 1973 until 1976 and was shortlisted for sailing team for

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

but not selected.

Personal life

Massara was educated at

St Paul's School (London) (''By Faith and By Learning'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent school Public school , religion = Church of England , president = , he ...

and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He is married with three children & three grandchildren. He appeared in a short "cameo" role in the Beatles film "

A Hard Day's Night (film) ''A Hard Day's Night'' is a 1964 musical comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring the English rock band the Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written b ...

" – he was the sculler in the water in the scene where Ringo Starr was walking along the towpath at Kew – very short clip – "come in no. 7 your time is up". His business career started at

British Motor Corporation The British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC) was a UK-based vehicle manufacturer, formed in early 1952 to give effect to an agreed merger of the Morris and Austin businesses.Morris-Austin Merger Company Named. ''The Times'', Friday, 29 February ...

in 1966 moving to

British Leyland British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...

HQ Berkeley Square, London, in 1968 and then with British Leyland International. He was Export Manager Dunlop Sports Company (

Dunlop Slazenger Dunlop Slazenger was a sports equipment manufacturing company formed by now-defunct BTR plc by consolidating the various sports brands acquired as part their take-over of Dunlop Holdings in 1985. The company is most recognised for its involvement ...

) 1977–1981. Marketing Manager Citroen Cars UK 1981–1984. Director JCB Sales (

J C Bamford JCB is a British multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer of equipment for construction, agriculture, Global waste trade, waste handling, and demolition, founded in 1945 and based in Rocester, Staffordshire, England. The word "wi ...

) 1984–1995. Joined JCB as Marketing Director and then ran their Middle East Africa operations and from 1992 to 1994 their Asia Pacific operation based in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. Director & General Manager Stramit International 1994–1998. In 1999, with his wife Pat, he bought Beech Farm Cottages, a Holiday Cottage complex. in

Wrelton Wrelton is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It is on the A170 road and 2 miles west of Pickering. History Wrelton is mentioned in the Domesday Book as having seven villagers, one ploughland, and a ...

North Yorkshire, before retiring in 2017.

References

External links

Rooney Massara at Sports-Reference
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Massara, Rooney Living people People educated at St Paul's School, London 1943 births Rowers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Alumni of the University of London English male rowers English male sailors (sport) Olympic rowers of Great Britain