Alister Kirby

Alister Kirby
Medal record
Men's rowing
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1912 Stockholm Men's eight
The British eights of the Leander Club at the 1912 Summer Olympics

Alister Graham Kirby (14 April 1886 – 29 March 1917) was a British rower who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. He died on service during the First World War.[1]

Kirby was born at Brompton, West London, the son of Arthur Raymond Kirby, a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn and his wife Gertrude Fleming.[citation needed] He was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford. He rowed for Oxford in the Boat Race in 1906, 1907, 1908 and 1909 but was only in the winning crew in his last year 1909, when he was president. He was President of Vincent's Club in 1909. Kirby became a member of Leander Club and was captain of the Leander eight which won the gold medal for Great Britain rowing at the 1912 Summer Olympics.[2]

On the outbreak of World War I, he was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade and served as a captain. He died from illness in 1917 aged 30 and was buried at Mazargues War Cemetery, Marseille, France.[3][4]

  1. ^ "Alister Kirby". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  2. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alister Kirby". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  3. ^ Casualty details
  4. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2015.