Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell

Rio 2016 Olympiad: 2013 – 2016

Reilly-O’Donnell was selected to partner Mat Tarrant in one of two GB men’s pairs for the 2016 season and they got off to a strong start, winning an impressive gold at the Varese World Cup. They then won bronze at the Lucerne World Cup, only being denied silver by the Netherlands in a photo finish. Another close race at the Poznan World Cup saw them finish fourth, just behind fellow Brits Alan Sinclair and Stewart Innes. Reilly-O’Donnell and Tarrant went to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as spares for the heavyweight men’s sweep squad.

Reilly-O’Donnell spent most of 2015 in the men’s four and started the season in style as he, Alan Sinclair, Scott Durant and Tom Ransley successfully defended GB’s title at the European Championships in Poznan.

After a fifth-place finish at the Varese World Cup, the four missed out on the A final in Lucerne but raced well to finish third in the B final and place ninth overall.

Illness forced Reilly-O’Donnell to miss testing and trialling for the World Rowing Championships but he was selected for the men’s coxed pair along with Mat Tarrant and cox Henry Fieldman. They went on to win gold in Aiguebelette, finishing six seconds clear of the field.

Reilly-O’Donnell, Sinclair, Durant and Tarrant were also in the men’s four in 2013 and finished fourth at the World Cup in Sydney before winning silver at Eton Dorney. After placing tenth at the Lucerne World Cup, the four finished fifth overall at the World Rowing Championships in Chungju.

The 2014 season saw Reilly-O’Donnell and Sinclair team up in the men’s pair for the European Championships in Belgrade, finishing fourth. Moving to the eight for the rest of the year, Reilly-O’Donnell won a World Cup silver in Aiguebelette and bronze in Lucerne before claiming his first world championships gold as GB recorded a convincing victory in Amsterdam to retain their title.

London 2012 Olympiad: 2009 – 2012

Reilly-O’Donnell made his senior debut in 2008 and went on to race in the second men’s four at the 2009 World Cup in Munich and win bronze with the eight at the World Rowing U23 Championships in Racice.

He continued to progress in 2010, winning a gold and bronze on the World Cup circuit with the eight before claiming a fine men’s fours silver at the World Rowing U23 Championships in Brest.

After being named as a spare for the 2009 and 2010 World Rowing Championships, Reilly-O’Donnell made his debut at the event in 2011 and helped the GB eight row through Canada and Australia to win silver behind Germany. He had also won two world cup medals with the eight – silver in Munich and bronze in Lucerne.

He remained in the men’s eight for the first race of 2012, winning a world cup silver in Belgrade. He then formed a second men’s pair with Cameron Nichol for the remainder of the world cup season, placing seventh in Lucerne and ninth in Munich.

Reilly-O’Donnell enjoys many sports including football, cycling, running and rugby. He would like to play second-row for the Irish rugby team but acknowledges he has “neither the skill or the experience to pull this off”. Rowing is in the family, with his mother and two cousins also having rowed for St Leonard’s School Boat Club in Durham.

A law graduate from University College, London he has a wide range of post-rowing career interests, including advertising, finance and behavioural economics. Advertising guru Ted Sutherland would be one of his ideal dinner-party guests along with his two grandfathers. “They died when I was just starting to realise they were people with their own stories, I’d love to pick their brains.”

He also enjoys discovering new places and experiencing the local culture. “Take me to Singapore for satay, New York for the Maloney & Porcelli wine menu or an Irish village pub for Guinness.” A fan of Have I Got News for You and Dumb and Dumber, he says he “can mow a lawn like no other”.

Reilly-O’Donnell is Lottery funded through UK Sport.