Kent Mitchell

Who is Kent Mitchell?

Henry Kent Mitchell II, generally known as Kent Mitchell, is an American coxswain, competition rower and Olympic champion.

Mitchell won a gold medal in coxed pairs at the 1964 Summer Olympics, as coxswain on the American boat. He was a law student at the UC Berkeley School of Law at the time. He won a bronze medal in the same event in 1960 while an undergraduate at Stanford University. Only two other Americans have coxed two crews to Olympic medals. He also coxed Stanford to two national championships, in 1961 and 1962.

Following graduation from law school in 1965 he practiced law in Palo Alto, California. He also set up and leads the Kent Mitchell Rowing Club, an elite masters competitive organization composed mostly of former national or Olympic champions. He also served three terms as mayor of Portola Valley, California.

He is in the Stanford University Hall of Fame and the National Rowing Hall of Fame.