Darcy Clarence Hadfield (1889 - 1964)

Biography

Darcy represented New Zealand in Rowing in the Antwep Olympics of 1920. Bronze Medal

Darcy was born about 1890.

Darcy Hadfield was a member of the first solely New Zealand team to go to an Olympics, in Antwerp in 1920, finishing third in the single sculls. The photograph was taken on 5 January 1922, the day that he defeated Dick Arnst on the Whanganui River for the world professional title. Hadfield won by six lengths in a time of 19 minutes 45 seconds for the 3¼ miles (5.2-kilometre) course. A crowd of some 10,000 witnessed the contest.

Hadfield’s career, which began with national rowing titles in 1911, had been interrupted by World War I, during which he was wounded at Passchendaele. He had also been invalided out of the trenches because of bronchitis. Hadfield won the singles at the Henley Peace Regatta in 1919 and also won the single sculls at the Inter-Allied Games in Paris the same year and was awarded a gold watch as one of the two outstanding competitors at the Games. ^[1]

He passed away in 1964.

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/39191

• NZ Marriages; 1916/7485 Sarita May Coyle Darcy Clarence Hadfield
• NZ Deaths; 1964/37880 Hadfield Darcy Clarence 74Y