James Clarke

For the 2010 World Cup Series James raced in the men's eight, winning a gold medal in Bled, a bronze in Munich and taking another bronze in Lucerne which was a significant step up for the crew given the calibre of the field there.

Following his decision to try for open weight selection in 2009, James established himself as stroke of the men's eight during the 2009 World Cup series, winning bronze in Banyoles and Munich.   He went on to race in the eight at the World Championships in Poznan, taking 5th place.

He was World Champion in the lightweight men's four in 2007 and raced in this boat class for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, finishing 5th, a significant achievement as this was the first time a GB lightweight four had made an Olympic final. 

James has represented GB at junior, U23 and senior level.  He took up rowing at St Pauls School in 1997 and rowed for Durham University from 2003–2006 under the guidance of Wade Hall–Craggs.  In 2002 he was 8th in the men's pair in the World Junior Championships and a Henley finalist.  He was a member of the lightweight men's pair that won bronze in the World U23 Championships in 2004 and silver in 2005.

In 2006 he broke into the senior lightweight squad through an exceptional performance in the GB Rowing Team's Senior Trials and stroked the Olympic class four for the rest of the season.  At the World Championships in Eton they became the first GB lightweight four to make the A Final for several years, finishing 5th.

In 2007 he won the World Cup series in the lightweight four winning bronze, silver and gold in the 3 event series, and followed this by winning gold at the World Championships in Munich after a fabulous performance in a thrilling final.  This was the first GB lightweight gold in an Olympic class event.

He is a talented musician and studied Music at Durham University.

James is Lottery Funded through UK Sport.