Matthew Langridge

Matt raced in the men's four for the 2010 World Cup Series, taking gold in Bled, bronze in Munich and an exceptional gold medal in Lucerne.

Matt established his place as stroke of the new GB four during the 2009 World Cup Series winning two golds and a bronze to take the overall 2009 title.  At the 2009 World Rowing Championships the four's main rivals were the Australian silver medal four from Beijing who had stayed together to avenge the GB victory at the Olympics.  With such a new British crew, many believed that Australia would triumph.  However this was not to be.  GB proved themselves technically superior and rowed away with a great rhythm, breaking contact soon after 1000m, and were worthy winners of the gold medal, almost 2 seconds ahead of Australia with Slovenia in third.

Matt was selected in the men's eight for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.  The eight produced an exceptional performance in their heat, qualifying directly for the final where they won a silver medal in a thrilling race with Canada and the USA. 

Matt learnt to row at Northwich RC under his coach and mentor Paul Rafferty, who has guided him throughout his career.  He won the single in the Coupe de la Jeunesse in 1999 and in 2000 he raced in the double scull at the World Junior Championships with Peter Wells, finishing 4th.

In 2001 Matt became the first GB rower to become World Junior Champion in the single.  In an outstanding performance in Duisburg he came through the field to win by more than five seconds.

Matt won his first senior vest in 2003 and raced in the men’s quad at the World Championships in Milan, where the crew finished 9th overall and qualified for the Athens Olympic Games.  This was Matt’s first full year on the senior team and the quad’s result was a major achievement for the GB men’s sculling squad.

In 2004 he gained Olympic selection in the double with Matt Wells where they missed out on a place in the final by the narrowest of margins but raced with credit to win the B Final.

Matt was 2nd in the single at the 2005 GB Rowing Team Senior Trials for the second consecutive year and raced in the quad in the World Cup regattas, taking a bronze in Lucerne at the World Cup Finals.  At the World Championships in Gifu, Japan the crew won the B Final to finish 7th overall.

After the 2005 Worlds, Matt made the major decision to move from sculling to sweep and has steadily risen up the ranks in the sweep squad.  He finished 5th in the eight at the World Championships in Eton and won a bronze medal in the pair in Munich at the 2007 World Championships.

Matt is Lottery Funded through UK Sport.