Jack Carlson (rowing)


Jack Carlson is an American rowing coxswain and author. He represented the United States at three World Championships, and won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette, France.
He is the author of the book Rowing Blazers and founder of the New York City-based menswear brand of the same name.

Education

Carlson earned a B.S.F.S. at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and a DPhil at Brasenose College, Oxford. At Oxford, he was awarded a Clarendon Scholarship and studied archaeology under Dame Jessica Rawson and R.R.R. Smith. His doctoral dissertation was a comparative study of the Roman Empire and the contemporaneous Qin-Han Empire in China.

Writing

Carlson is the author and illustrator of A Humorous Guide to Heraldry and author of Rowing Blazers. The latter, an illustrated book about the jackets traditionally worn by rowers on such occasions as Henley Royal Regatta and their history and traditions, launched with events at the Ralph Lauren flagships in New York and London.
Carlson is also the author of academic articles on such topics as the Arch of Constantine, Iron Age weaponry, and monuments in contemporary China.

Design career

Carlson is the founder of menswear brand Rowing Blazers. The brand's blazers are made in New York City's Garment District using vintage patterns, details and construction techniques and ethically-sourced materials. The brand also produces vintage-style rugby shirts, woven shirts, and t-shirts, and has a shop in SoHo, Manhattan.

Rowing career

Carlson has represented the United States as a coxswain at the 2011, 2014, and 2015 World Championships. His highest finish came in 2015, finishing third in the lightweight eight out of five entries.
His crew won the Britannia Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta with Taurus Boat Club;, equalling the record time to the Barrier. At the Head of the Charles, he steered the second iteration of the Women's "Great Eight" and the first to win, beating the U.S. women's eight by 1.2 seconds.
At Oxford, Carlson raced in the losing Isis crew at the 2010 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, and in the victorious Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club Blue Boat at the 2011 Henley Boat Races, before switching allegiance to Oxford Brookes University Boat Club in May, 2011. He trained and raced with Brookes, in spite of being an Oxford University student. He rowed bow seat in the Brasenose College Boat Club 1st VIII, The Childe of Hale, in 2010; and coxed Brasenose to victory in a 2015 re-enactment of the first ever collegiate rowing race, contested between Brasenose College and Jesus College two hundred years earlier. Prior to Oxford, Carlson coxed at Georgetown University, where he served as team captain in 2009.

Coaching career

Carlson served as chief coach for Oriel College Boat Club, Oxford, in 2011-2012 and 2013-2014. Oriel finished Head of the River in Summer Eights in both seasons; defending the Headship in 2012, and bumping Christ Church and Pembroke to recapture the Headship in 2014.