Henry Fieldman has made history by becoming the first Olympian to win medals in both men’s and women’s events.

The 35-year-old athlete is a coxswain. In a rowing team, a coxswain is the member of the team who steers the boat, facing towards the team while they row.

Row New York defines them as the brains of the boat. “They steer, they motivate, they execute strategy during races, and they coach during practices,” the organization explains.

Henry first represented Team Great Britain at the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics, claiming a bronze medal in the men’s eight rowing team.

A British athlete has made history after becoming the first Olympian to win medals in both men’s and women’s events

Image credits: John Walton/PA Images

Before securing an Olympic medal, he won bronze at Bulgaria’s 2018 World Rowing Championships. The following year, he won another bronze at Austria’s 2019 World Rowing Championships.

On Saturday (August 3), he added another medal to his collection, but in the women’s eight.

His inclusion in the team was made possible by a 2017 World Rowing rule that allows the coxswain to be either a man or a woman.

Henry and the women’s team had qualified for the Olympics by finishing fourth at the 2023 World Championship.

Henry Fieldman is a rowing coxswain, the member of the team who steers the boat, facing towards the crew while they row

Image credits: Peter Byrne/PA Images

In Paris, they won bronze at the event at Vaires-sur-Marne, a moment that cox Henry described as “a real joy” and the “honor of [his] life.”

“They only changed the rule in 2017, so someone was going to do it, and it just happened to be me,” he shared.

“Each stroke, on average, is harder [for the women than the men], and I’ve been super-impressed by them.

“They are a really supportive group. We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs and challenges.”

Heidi Long, Rowan McKellar, Holly Dunford, Ford, Lauren Irwin, Eve Stewart, Harriet Taylor and Annie Campbell-Orde—coxed by Henry Fieldman—battled all the way to the line to finish behind champions Romania and Tokyo winners Canada, the BBC reported on Saturday.

The 35-year-old won bronze with the women’s eight team on Saturday (August 3)

Image credits: Peter Byrne/PA Images

The women’s bronze is only Britain’s second medal in the event after their silver at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and comes after they failed to make the final in Tokyo, the broadcast added.

The Hammersmith native chose to change teams because he considered that his opposite number, Harry Brightmore, would be “a better fit for the men and [he] would be better for the women.”

The men’s eight team secured a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. They have now won medals in the eights at five consecutive Games, including gold in Rio in 2016.

“They only changed the rule in 2017, so someone was going to do it, and it just happened to be me,” he said

Henry has received support from various members of his crew, such as rower Heidi Long, who said before the Olympic Rowing Regatta: “He brings out the best in all of us, so we could not do it without him.”

“We’re a big group and he keeps us all on exactly the same thing—he takes away all the worry from what we have to do.

“We know that when we’re sitting at the start line, absolutely everything’s been taken care of.”

Additionally, Harriet Taylor mentioned that the role of the coxswain in a race “is often quite undervalued, and maybe under-rated by people who don’t really understand rowing.”

Henry also claimed a bronze medal when he competed in the men’s eight team at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics

Image credits: Mike Egerton/PA Images

The two-time Olympic medalist plans to extend his contribution to the women’s team.

“I hope that now that we’ve had two Olympic medals in the women’s eight that this could be the start of more women’s eight medals to come—stepping on to greater things,” the athlete said.