Charles Cousins

Rio 2016 Olympiad: 2013 – 2016

After winning the men’s single sculls at the GB Rowing Team Senior Trials for a third successive year, injury forced Cousins to miss the first three regattas of 2015 but he returned to help the men’s quad for Rio 2016 with a fourth-placed finish at the World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette.

Cousins was in the quad throughout the Rio Olympiad, which started with a gold medal at the Sydney World Cup. The now familiar line-up of Graeme Thomas, Sam Townsend, Cousins and Peter Lambert raced together for the first time at Eton Dorney. They finished fifth there and, with Jonny Walton subbing for the injured Thomas in Lucerne, improved to fourth before winning bronze at the 2013 World Rowing Championships in Chungju – the first ever world medal for a GB men’s quad.

The crew continued to make great strides during 2014, winning silver at the European Championships in Belgrade before adding world cup gold in both Aiguebelette and Lucerne. Mature and confident performances saw them win their heat and semi-final at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam to set up a showdown with Ukraine, who had beaten GB to the European title. The final was closely fought but Ukraine were able to hold off a dramatic late surge from the Brits, who missed out on gold by just nine-hundredths of a second.

London 2012 Olympiad: 2009 – 2012

Still an under-23 athlete, Cousins nevertheless established himself in the senior quad in 2009 and won world cup silver in Banyoles and Lucerne. However, illness struck the crew just before the World Rowing Championships in Poznan and they had to withdraw after their heat.

They enjoyed better fortunes the following year in New Zealand as Cousins, Sam Townsend, Bill Lucas and Stephen Rowbotham became the first GB men’s quad to reach a World Championship final since 1982, finishing fifth. They also won bronze medals at the World Cups in Munich and Lucerne.

After missing 2011 through injury, Cousins returned to the quad in 2012. They finished seventh at the World Cups in Belgrade and Lucerne before improving to fourth in Munich. Cousins was selected for his Olympic debut and reached the final at London 2012, finishing fifth alongside Stephen Rowbotham, Tom Solesbury and Matt Wells.

Cousins has a degree in psychology at Reading University. When not rowing, he enjoys travelling, scuba diving, playing guitar and learning foreign languages.

He is an Athlete Mentor for the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust and a Sporting Champions Mentor for Sport England.

Cousins was Lottery funded through UK Sport.