 SIDNEY Charles Rand, who was born on August 17, 1934 in Tottenham, was the eldest of three children.
He and his younger brother, Bill, were evacuated during the Second World War to Northampton, which proved to be a testing time and forced them to grow up quickly.
The family then moved to Dunmow, Essex, where Sid and his brother joined them. After the war they returned to Tottenham and Sid attended Down Lane School where he was technically minded and performed well as a prefect.
He started rowing on the river Lea in east London at the age of 14. He raced at various regattas with considerable success until, in 1952, he joined the Royal Air Force on National Service. He was posted to Benson and soon won the London Cup for single sculls at the Metropolitan Regatta, an event then second in prestige only to Henley Royal Regatta.
In 1953, he won the top trophies at Dunkirk, Ostend and Ghent international regattas in his scull. One of his awards was a crate of vintage champagne which HM Customs refused to allow him to bring back into England.
In 1954, he took the silver medals at the European championships and the Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver. The year was crowned by victory in the Wingfield sculls on the Tideway, the most important sculling contest in British rowing, at the age of 19.
The following year, he won the top sculling event at both Ghent and Ostend regattas, winning the King’s Medal. Sid went on to win the medal an unprecedented four times.
In 1956, with brother Bill, who by then was also in the RAF Rowing Club, Sid won the double sculls at Henley Royal Regatta and many senior international regattas. Both were selected to represent Great Britain at the Melbourne Olympics, where they came fifth.
After completing three years of National Service, Sid moved to Henley, joined Leander Club and worked full time for Waldens, the Henley building firm. He continued his rowing career at the highest level for many years.
He represented Great Britain in the European championships in Poznan (1958) and Macon (1959) and again at the Rome Olympics as a single sculler in 1960. He went to his third Olympics in Tokyo in 1964 as a coach.
In 1959, he became a founder member of Barn Cottage Rowing Club in Henley which was made up predominantly of RAF oarsmen as there was no other club which could accept them as a separate crew. He finished his competitive career in 1966.
Sid had four children, Alison from his first marriage, and from his second marriage of nearly 39 years to Sheena, Vicky, Will and Juliet. It was in July 1969 that Sid and Sheena were set up on a blind date at a barn dance in Nuffield. They hit it off and were married on Valentine’s Day in 1970.
In the early Seventies he returned to rowing and joined Upper Thames Rowing Club and competed at the highest veteran level.
His working career had moved into quarry management and he set up his own sand and gravel quarry in Chesham.
In his retirement he found time to coach internationally with the GB squad and various Leander and Upper Thames crews and there was rarely a day that he did not spend some time cycling the towpath at Henley, either following a crew or simply to exercise.
He also developed his technical skills in woodwork. Sid had a love for wood-turning, producing lamps and bowls for his family and friends and, in more recent years, had enjoyed restoring wooden skiffs and a Cornish fishing dinghy.
Sid died on Christmas Day in the Adelaide ward of the Royal Berkshire Hospital after a short battle with cancer.
He was a huge influence on so many people’s lives and his immeasurable character, advice and experience will be sadly missed by all his family and friends.
A memorial service will be held at St Mary’s Church, Henley, on Friday, January 30 at 2pm.
Published on 12 January 2009
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