Olympic rower Jack Beaumont has recounted a frightening incident on the River Thames where a speedboat driver allegedly attempted to ram his boat and hurled threats. Beaumont, a silver medalist in the men's quadruple sculls at the Tokyo Olympics five years ago, stated he feared the 67-year-old driver would intentionally collide with him during what he described as a "river rage" episode.
The incident occurred early Sunday morning near Maidenhead. Beaumont, 32, intervened after witnessing the motorboat driver, who has since been arrested, appear to collide with another rower. Footage of the event shows the motorboat captain shouting expletives at Beaumont.
Beaumont was training when he observed the motorboat approaching two oncoming single sculls. He noted the motorboat seemed to be on the incorrect side of the river according to navigation rules. "When you're rowing, you're going backwards so [the rowers] weren't expecting him and then at the last second they noticed. One of them managed to manoeuvre around him but the other one hit the boat," Beaumont told The Times. "And then he just lost his mind. He started shouting at them. I can't remember what he was saying but it was very, very threatening. I was quite concerned because of the way he was speaking to them, I was quite afraid he might hurt them."
He advised the rowers to record the name of the boat, reportedly named the Mayfair Lady, before the driver turned his attention to Beaumont. The driver then allegedly reversed his boat in an apparent attempt to ram Beaumont's scull. Witnesses described the event as highly dangerous, with one rower stating, "This is someone in a power boat running somebody over, which is highly dangerous."
Another witness recounted the exchange: "Jack [Beaumont] shouted out, 'What are you doing?' The man on the speedboat then started effing and blinding at Jack and tried to ram Jack in his boat. This could have been life-threatening, if not fatal."
The boat owner, who is understood to sometimes live on his craft, had reportedly argued with members of Maidenhead Rowing Club previously. The skipper was heard shouting from his deck, "I did nothing wrong. You f***ers think you own the water." He also allegedly revved his engine and threatened to "ram" something down Beaumont's throat.
Sources indicated that Beaumont lured the speedboat away from the other rowers, potentially preventing a worse outcome. The motorboat captain was arrested on suspicion of making threats to kill, assault, and using a watercraft in a manner that endangered a structure or individual. He remained in custody on Tuesday.
Beaumont, who previously rowed for Maidenhead Rowing Club, suffered a career-threatening back injury in 2015 but recovered to compete in the Rio Olympics the following year. His father, Peter Beaumont, is also an Olympic oarsman.