John Lander (rower)
{{short description|British rower}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = John Lander
| image = John Lander (1928).jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = John Gerard Heath Lander
| birth_date = {{birth date|1907|9|7|df=y}}
| birth_place = Liverpool, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|1941|12|25|1907|9|7|df=y}}
| death_place = Stanley, Hong Kong
| education =
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| sport = Rowing
| club = First Trinity Boat Club
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Men's rowing}}
{{MedalCountry|{{GBR2}}}}
{{MedalGold| 1928 Amsterdam|Coxless four}}
}}
John Gerard Heath Lander (7 September 1907 – 25 December 1941) was a British rower who competed at the 1928 Summer Olympics. He was killed in action during the Second World War.
Lander was born in Liverpool. He attended Shrewsbury School and was in the Shrewsbury crew that won the Ladies' Challenge Plate at Henley Royal Regatta in 1924. He then went to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he crewed for the First Trinity Boat Club. With Edward Vaughan Bevan, Richard Beesly and Michael Warriner, he won an Olympic gold medal in the coxless fours event rowing at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam.[https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/la/john-lander-1.html Sports reference Olympic Sports – John Lander] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519141124/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/la/john-lander-1.html |date=19 May 2011 }} They recorded a time of 6:36.0 in the final to beat the U.S. crew by 1 second. In 1929 Lander was expected to be included in the Cambridge crew in the Boat Race, but Richard Beesly, fellow gold medalist and the Cambridge President, called on Tom Brocklebank as stroke instead.
Personal life
Upon leaving Cambridge, Lander took up a business appointment in Hong Kong.{{Cite sports-reference|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/la/john-lander-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418042619/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/la/john-lander-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 April 2020|title=John Lander Olympic Results|access-date=19 May 2020}} After the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong, Lander enlisted as a gunner in the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps.{{CWGC|id=2221214|name=Lander, John Gerard Heath|access-date=19 May 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Wordie |first1=Jason |title=My life: Gerry Lander |url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1155361/my-life-gerry-lander |access-date=19 May 2020 |work=South China Morning Post |date=24 February 2013}} He was killed in action near St. Stephen's College on 25 December 1941. Lander is buried at Sai Wan War Cemetery.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Olympic champions – Men's coxless four}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lander, John}}
Category:Military personnel from Liverpool
Category:People educated at Shrewsbury School
Category:Olympic rowers for Great Britain
Category:Rowers at the 1928 Summer Olympics
Category:English Olympic competitors
Category:Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain
Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
Category:Olympic medalists in rowing
Category:Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics
Category:British military personnel killed in World War II
Category:British Malaya military personnel of World War II
Category:Burials at Sai Wan War Cemetery
Category:Sportspeople from Liverpool
Category:20th-century English sportsmen
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