Chris Bartley

Rio 2016 Olympiad: 2013-2016

After a tough winter of training and trialing, Chris was once again selected alongside Mark Aldred, Jono Clegg and Peter Chambers in the lightweight men’s four for the 2016 season. They made an impressive start, finishing runners-up to the World Champions from Switzerland at the European Championships in Brandenburg. The GB four then finished fifth at the World Cup in Lucerne but returned to the podium at the Poznan World Cup after winning bronze.

The four were runners-up in their opening heat at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games but had to settle for fourth place in the semi-final. They ended the regatta on a strong note, though, by winning the B final to finish seventh overall.

Chris and the lightweight four had a challenging 2015, finishing ninth at the World Championships, but achieved their main objective by qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

In a season where different combinations were tested, Chris and Mark Aldred were the only rowers to race in all four international regattas.   After fourth-place finishes at the European Championships in Poznan and World Cup in Varese, they missed out on the A final in Lucerne but won an exciting B final after an excellent race for the line with Spain.

Chris started the Rio Olympiad by winning bronze with the four at the 2013 World Championships in Chungju, having earlier claimed World Cup silver and bronze in Sydney and Eton respectively.

The 2014 season saw Chris and Mark joined in the lightweight four by the Chambers brothers, Richard and Peter.  After winning a hard-fought silver at the European Championships, third-placed finishes followed at the World Cups in Aiguebelette and Lucerne before another bronze was secured in a competitive World Championships final in Amsterdam.

London 2012 Olympiad: 2009 – 2012

Chris, having enjoyed a successful rise through the junior and U23 ranks, moved into the Olympic-class lightweight men’s four in 2009 and reached the A final in all three World Cup regattas but had to settle for 13th place at the World Championships.

However, there was a massive turnaround in fortunes in 2010 as Chris, Richard Chambers, Paul Mattick and Rob Williams enjoyed an exceptional season. After winning two World Cup golds and a silver, Chris secured the first World title of his career in a dramatic final in New Zealand where just eight-hundredths of a second separated 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.

Chris, Richard and Rob were joined by Peter Chambers for the 2012 season. 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.

Chris – who started rowing aged 14 at King’s School, Chester – is the assistant rowing coach at Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School in Marlow and enjoys photography, working freelance at times.

Cycling is also a passion – his ideal job outside of rowing would be bike mechanic for a pro-cycling team and he has huge respect for Jens Voigt, the recently-retired professional road cyclist. “Jens always put on a great show during racing while remaining a great role model for young athletes.” A year’s subscription to Cycle Sport magazine would be one of Chris’s three items for a desert island, along with an iPod and his cat, Florence.

Bradley Wiggins would be among his ideal dinner party guests, along with Billy Connolly and Kurt Cobain. His music choice for training is “any kind of metal, the louder the better!”

Chris can spin a basketball on his finger “like a pro”.

Chris is Lottery funded through UK Sport.