Mark Hunter is the reigning Olympic champion in the lightweight men's double scull and was appointed MBE in the New Year's Honours list 2009 in recognition of his achievement.
Mark started rowing aged 14 at Poplar, Blackwall & District Rowing Club. He had previously tried football, swimming and various martial arts before deciding to direct all his effort into rowing. The ambition to represent his country and compete at the Olympics took hold at an early age.
Mark won J16 single sculls at the National Championships in 1994 and thereby gained a place in the GB–France U16 Team. The following year he won the Fawley Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta and went on to race the quad scull at the World Junior Championships.
From 1997 to 2000 Mark raced at the World U23 Championships in the openweight division quad and double before deciding in 2001 to race as a lightweight. During that year he stroked the lightweight eight at the World Championships in Lucerne where his crew finished 5th.
Mark is an Honorary Freeman of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen of the River Thames. In 2000, as an apprentice of the company, he competed with John Dwan in the Millennium Coat and Badge double sculls race, which they duly won, and were subsequently presented with distinctive uniforms at a special dinner at Fishmongers' Hall.
Mark raced in the lightweight men's four during the 2004 World Cup series and went on to represent his country in that boat class at the Athens Olympics.
In 2005 Mark moved back into the lightweight double scull - partnered by James Lindsay-Fynn he came 4th in the World Cup at Eton, and 6th in Munich, before going on to win the B final at the World Championships in Japan. The 2006 World Cup season brought further success with bronze medals in Poznan and Munich, and a 6th place finish in Lucerne. Mark and his partner went on to the World Championships at Eton and finished 8th overall.
It was in 2007 that Mark forged a winning formala partnered by Zac Purchase. Together they medalled at each of the three World Cup regattas with two silvers and a bronze, and went on to another bronze at the World Championships in Munich.
Hunter and Purchase we unstoppable during the 2008 seaosn, taking gold at every Wolrd Cup regatta befor egoing onto take the Olympic title itself. It was the first time GB had ever won a lightweight medal at an Olympic Games.
Following his Olympic triumph Mark took a break from rowing during the 2009 season and went out to coach at the UCLA in California. Watching his athletes train and compete with such a buzz and excitement reminded him why he loved training and racing so much, so - feeling totally refreshed - he returned to training with his sights set firmly on London 2012.
At the first World Cup regatta of the 2010 season in Munich Mark raced raced in the lightweight double with Zac Purchase for the first time since their Olympic victory in Beijing and won the gold medal. Five months later, at the World Championships in New Zealand, the duo proved they were back at their best by dominating the final to become World Champions ahead of Italy and New Zealand.
The 2011 season got off to a shaky start in Munich where Mark and Zac finished 4th, but Zac was later diagnosed with a post-viral illness and did not race in Lucerne, where Mark raced with Adam Freeman-Pask, finishing 8th. But by the time the World Championships took place in Bled, the Olympic champions were back on form, going on to retain the world title just over a second clear of New Zealand.
Link to biography on British Rowing website
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