17 July 2026

By Tim Koch

The legendary rowing coach, Donald Legget, died on 9 July. Unfortunately, I cannot begin to properly summarise an intense rowing and coaching career that stretched from 1956 to 2025, most of it at the highest level. Further, chronological gaps in this obituary do not mean that Donald was ever inactive, rowing was his life.

Perhaps I should let the man himself explain why and how he stayed relevant at the highest levels of coaching for nearly sixty years, notably at CUBC, Leander, Trinity Hall, Radley and St Paul’s. As he wrote on his LinkedIn page, I am a top class rowing coach with an innate ability to spot and correct technical faults. You could say many things about Donald Legget but few knowledgeable people in the rowing world would deny that he had this talent. 

A recommendation on his LinkedIn page says: Donald’s abilities as a rowing coach are so well known that they don’t really need further recommendation – needless to say that he is regarded as having the finest natural eye in the sport, has a wealth of experience to draw from and always manages to get the best out of his charges.

After leaving Radley in 1960, Donald rowed in London Rowing Club’s 1961 Grand Crew at Henley, losing to the eventual winners, The Central Sport Club of the USSR Navy, in the semi-final.

Going up to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 1961 to read classics and law, Donald was selected for the 1962 CUBC reserve crew, Goldie. Unfortunately, he did not have the chance to race against the Oxford reserves, Isis, as the reserve race did not begin until 1965.

In 1964, Donald became Captain of Leander. Under his captaincy and with the active support of Harold Rickett, John Hall-Craggs and George Brown, he ran a new initiative to recruit promising junior rowers into a specialised Cadet Squad at Leander. 

In 1967, Donald persuaded an initially reluctant but very talented coach, Derek Drury, to train these young athletes. Selection was strictly performance based, heavily relying on trials in single sculls – though at the time, Leander only owned two singles! The program dramatically revitalised the ailing club and its cadets went on to dominate the Thames Cup, winning it in 1968, 1969 and 1970. 

In the 1970s, Donald combined teaching classics with coaching at both Cambridge and Leander and notably coached Chris Baillieu and Mike Hart to an Olympic silver medal in the double sculls at the 1976 Olympic Games, a time when British Olympic rowing medals were a rarity.

The above picture with Donald in front of a minibus asking “Which Blue Are You” prompted me to joke at the time: 

Three things Donald Legget is not likely to say:

1) I think I’ll support Oxford this year…
2) But that’s just my humble opinion…
3) I really don’t care how you spell my name…

The name? “It’s two gins, one tonic!!!”

In the past, obituaries were highly respectful of their subjects albeit there were acknowledged code words that hinted at some sort of criticism or perceived fault. In the long past age of deference, it would have been said of Donald that, “He was old school”, “He was a character” and that “He did not suffer fools gladly”. 

Few would deny that Donald was a curmudgeon, a characteristic that can be amusing in some but not all contexts. However, the clubs that employed him seemed to tolerate or ignore some of his less acceptable public utterances, something not to their credit.

I have to admit that many people’s views on Donald attune with, for example, a very positive recommendation on his LinkedIn page:

What is perhaps more impressive than his technical expertise is his character. Always affable, genuine, kind and generous, both in time and in deed… A fantastic coach, a fantastic person, I would recommend him to all.  

Further, there are some very affectionate memories of Donald in his obituary on the CUBC website. In it the current CUBC men’s coach, Rob Baker, claims, What is hugely overlooked in Donald was his loyalty and friendship. His sometimes colourful language could often hide his care and love. Donald was a fierce friend to a few and I count myself as one of them.

Perhaps we should just simply conclude that Donald Legget was an enigma – albeit one that made boats go very fast. 

Donald leaves a brother and a sister. In accordance with his wishes, his funeral will be a private family occasion. CUBC will organise a celebration of his life later this year. 

*Eminence Grise