A British Olympic rower has bravely prevented a boat captain from ramming other rowers after going wild on a river.
Jack Beaumont was on the Thames with other members of the Maidenhead Rowing Club when the chaos unfolded early on Sunday morning.
The cruiser’s owner had started attacking some rowboats, known as rowboats, in his 18-foot boat when Tokyo silver medalist Mr Beaumont, 32, asked him what he was doing.
The owner of the boat, said to be called the Mayfair Lady, then accelerated towards Mr Beaumont.
Footage obtained by the Daily Mail shows him unleashing a volley of verbal abuse on Mr Beaumont, calling him a ‘bastard’ and telling him to ‘shut up’.
He then turned in an apparent attempt to ram the athlete’s skull.
Mr Beaumont, who won men’s silver at the 2021 Olympic Games, expertly rowed away from danger and then lured the skipper away from frightened rowers further down the river.
The skipper is believed to have circled around rowers before aiming for at least two oars to ram. Thames Valley Police have arrested a 67-year-old Windsor man on suspicion of “making threats to kill and using a personal watercraft in a manner that endangers a structure or individual.”
A rower who witnessed the incident said: ‘I was a few hundred meters away, upstream. I saw a speedboat owner pulling away from the shore.
The speedboat skipper starts shouting at Jack Beaumont, who tries to calm him down
The captain backs up towards Mr. Beaumont, who moves out of the way in his skull
The rower won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan
“He rushed over and rammed a rowboat, almost sinking the man in it [the water]. This is someone in a motorboat running someone over, which is very dangerous.”
The rower continued, “Jack [Beaumont] shouted, “What are you doing?” The man on the speedboat then started blinding Jack and tried to ram Jack into his boat. This could have been life-threatening, if not fatal.”
It is understood the boat owner sometimes lives on his vessel and has previously had arguments with members of the Maidenhead Rowing Club.
He was heard shouting at Mr Beaumont from his deck: ‘I didn’t do anything wrong. You f***ers think you own the water.” The skipper revved his engine and shouted that he was going to ‘ram’ something down Mr Beaumont’s throat.
A source said: ‘Jack lured the speedboat away from the rowers. You have to wonder what could have happened if someone as skilled as Jack wasn’t on hand. If the rowers were just taking their first lessons, it could have been so much worse.”
Mr Beaumont, who has raced for Maidenhead Rowing Club, broke his back in a career-threatening injury in 2015 while training with Team GB in Portugal. However, he went on to compete in the quadruple in the Rio
The exchange then intensified as Mr Beaumont tried to stay out of the way
The boat gives chase to Mr. Beaumont, who lures him down the Thames into the distance
2016 Olympic Games after being called up at the last minute as a replacement for the ailing Graeme Thomas. The team finished in fifth place. After the Tokyo Games, he retired from international rowing in 2021.
Mr Beaumont’s father, Peter, is also an Olympic rower and came fourth in the men’s eighth event at the 1988 Games in Seoul. Maidenhead Rowing Club, founded in 1876, is part of an exclusive area called ‘Hollywood on Thames’.
The riverfront is home to athletes and celebrities, including Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Tom Dean. Television presenter Sir Michael Parkinson, who died in 2023, also lived there.
A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said yesterday: ‘A 67-year-old man from Windsor has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, making threats to kill, a breach of the Section 4 Public Order Act, common assault and using a watercraft in a way that endangered a structure or individual. He remains in police custody while investigations continue.”
Maidenhead Rowing Club said: ‘We consider this to be a serious and dangerous incident. The safety of everyone on the water is our priority and this type of behavior is completely unacceptable.”
