David G. A. Douglas (born 16 March 1947) is an Australian former rower. He was a five-time Australian national champion, won a gold medal at the inaugural North American rowing championships in 1967 and won a silver medal at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

Club and state rowing

Douglas was born in Melbourne, Victoria, and was educated at Scotch College where he was introduced to rowing. He rowed in the school's 2nd VIII in 1965 and the senior VIII in 1966. His senior rowing was from the

Mercantile Rowing Club The Mercantile Rowing Club is based in Melbourne, Australia on the Yarra River. It was founded in 1880 and has occupied its current site since 1885. More than 40 Mercantillians have represented Australia at Olympic Games. Club history A group o ...

where he had a long association. He first made state selection for Victoria in the 1967 men's eight which contested the

King's Cup __NOTOC__ King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King Cup (sometimes named King's Cup), Saudi Arabian men's football nati ...

at the annual Interstate Regatta. He then rowed in further Victorian eights at the Interstate Regattas in 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971. Those crews won the King's Cup on three consecutive occasions from 1969 to 1971. After a long break he made a comeback to elite rowing in 1980 and that year rowed in the two seat of another winning Victorian King's Cup eight. At the 1968 Australian Rowing Championships in a composite Mercantile/MUBC crew Douglas, Graeme Boykett, John Harry, Stephen Gillon, and cox Tom Daffy won the Australian coxed four title.

International representative rowing

In 1967 all-Victorian coxed four of Douglas, Boykett, Harry, Gillon, and Daffy was selected as Australian representatives to race at the US championships, the inaugural North American championships and the European Championships. They fared well placing second in the US and winning the North American championship in St Catharines. In 1968 Douglas was the sole Victorian added to the New South Wales crew which made up the Australian men's eight for the

Mexico Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

. He was seated at three for their Olympic campaign and silver medal victory in Mexico City. For the

1970 World Rowing Championships The 1970 World Rowing Championships was the 3rd World Rowing Championships. It was held in 1970 at the Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Course in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The competition involved seven events. Prior to the 4th World Rowing ...

in St Catharines, Douglas was in the six seat of the Australian eight which rowed to a fifth placing in the final.

Accolades and family

After competitive retirement Douglas was Chairman of selectors at

for a number of years. In 2010 he was inducted as a member of the Rowing Victoria Hall of Fame. His daughter Gina Douglas is also an Australian national representative rower. She competed at six world championships and at the

Atlanta 1996 The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in the women's eight and at Sydney 2000 as a single sculler. David's son Robert Douglas rowed in the Australian men's eight at the

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

and the

2002 World Rowing Championships The 2002 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 15 to 22 September 2002 on the Guadalquivir at Seville, Spain. Adaptive events were held for the first time at a World Championships. Medal summary Men's e ...

.Rob Douglas profile at World Rowing
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, David 1947 births Living people Australian male rowers Olympic rowers for Australia Rowers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Rowers from Melbourne Sportsmen from Victoria (state)