Richard Chambers

Rio 2016 Olympiad: 2013-2016

Richard was once again selected to partner Will Fletcher in the lightweight men’s double scull for the 2016 season. An injury to Richard forced them to miss the European Championships in Brandenburg before the double finished fifth at the World Cups in both Lucerne and Poznan.

After finishing as runners-up in their heat at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Will and Richard had to settle for fourth place in their semi-final. However, they finished the regatta on a strong note by winning the B final to place seventh overall.

Richard and Will enjoyed a highly-encouraging debut season together in the lightweight double in 2015. They quickly forged a good partnership and won a silver medal at the European Championships in Poznan behind France’s Stany Delayre and Jeremie Azou, who went on to finish the season unbeaten.

A bronze medal at the World Cup in Varese was followed by an eventful regatta in Lucerne, where an injury to Will meant Richard was joined by Jono Clegg for the final.  It was Jono’s second final in less than 24 hours and, after a brave effort, the GB duo finished fifth.

Richard and Will were back to their best at the World Championships in Aiguebelette and, in a high-quality final featuring the 2013 and 2014 gold-medallists, led the field at halfway. Delayre and Azou then moved clear in front of their home crowd but Richard and Will, who won silver, were closing in on them at the line.

Richard had first raced in the lightweight double in 2013, winning World Cup gold with Adam Freeman-Pask in Sydney before teaming up with brother Peter Chambers to claim World Cup silver and bronze.  They were also third at the World Championships in Chungju.

The 2014 season saw the Chambers brothers return to the lightweight four where, alongside Mark Aldred and Chris Bartley, they won a hard-fought silver at the European Championships. Bronze medals followed at the World Cups in Aiguebelette and Lucerne before another third-placed finish was secured in a competitive World Championships final in Amsterdam.

London 2012 Olympiad: 2009-2012

Richard’s silver at the London 2012 Olympic Games came seven years after he won a medal of the same colour on his GB Rowing Team debut at the World U23 Championships in Amsterdam.

After sustaining an injury in the GB Rowing Team Senior Trials Richard was ruled-out of the first season of the London Olympiad entirely.

However, he made a stunning return in 2010, winning two World Cup golds and a silver alongside Chris Bartley, Paul Mattick and Rob Williams. The four then capped an exceptional season by securing the World title in New Zealand, with just eight-hundredths of a second separating the top three.

The same four came from sixth to win bronze at the 2011 World Championships in Bled, having won World Cup gold and bronze in Lucerne and Munich respectively.

Richard was joined by his brother, Peter, in the four for 2012 along with Chris and Rob. They won silver in Belgrade and bronze in Lucerne before finishing the World Cup series with gold in Munich. An extremely close Olympic final at Eton Dorney saw the GB four finish just two-tenths of a second behind South Africa but hold off Denmark to secure silver.

Richard attended Coleraine Academical Institution where he began rowing at the age of 15 under the watchful eye of Bobby Platt MBE. In 2003 he moved to Oxford Brookes University to study Construction Management.

He is an ambassador for Volunteer Now & Cancer focus NI.  In September 2013 Richard and his younger brother and team mate, Peter, visited Uganda with the Christian charity Tearfund to helps raise awareness of the need for clean, fresh water.

Richard is the proud father of Joshua and Alexandra

He is Lottery funded through UK Sport.