Profile

Lieutenant Pete Reed joined the Royal Navy as an engineering officer cadet in 1999 before he had ever considered picking up an oar. During military fitness training, he started using the rowing machine for the first time.

After completing officer training and with military support, he studied mechanical engineering at the University of the West of England in Bristol. Taking up rowing in his second year, he quickly progressed from the novice crew to Club President.

With the world’s largest recorded lung capacity of 11.68 litres, Pete’s natural physiology is ideal for rowing. He raced into the British under-23 team after two years and then into the University of Oxford crew, gaining two Blues. In 2005, Pete won the GB Rowing Team’s senior final selection trials, a title that he has defended every year since.

After gaining selection into the senior men’s top crew, the coxless four, Pete won his first World Championship gold before finishing his fourth year of rowing.

With two world titles secured, a new look 2008 Olympic coxless four was formed. Despite massive setbacks throughout the season, the crew took the Olympic title in one of the most dramatic climaxes in any race at the Beijing Games, racing down Australia in the last ten strokes.

Pete and his team-mate Andrew Triggs Hodge then turned their attention to the men’s pair. With enduring national success, Pete and Andy raced between 2009 and 2011 against their biggest rivals from New Zealand, picking up golds in their absence, setting records at Henley Royal Regatta but never quite being able to squeeze their noses in front of the Kiwi crew.

With all this experience, a new look coxless four team was formed for the 2012 Olympic year. The crew smashed the world’s best time at their second regatta and had it’s eyes on gold in London 2012. Nothing else mattered.

Pete Reed, Alex Gregory, Tom James and Andrew Triggs Hodge. GBR M4- 2012.

After a defeat in the last World Cup the British crew went away for the five final weeks to scrutinise their training to turn the result around. The story of the 2012 Olympiad had a fairy tale ending when everything came together at 11:30am 4th August in the final.

Pete is a keen photographer and pianist. He lives in Henley on Thames with his wife and two dogs Maximus and Skyfall.