David Haig-Thomas was not just an Olympic rower; he was an explorer, ornithologist, photographer, British Army officer and Commando
The bowman in the men's eight that finished fourth at the LA 1932 Olympics, Haig-Thomas was tragically killed in action on D-Day in Normandy, aged 35.
But during his short life, he packed in the adventures of a lifetime.
This Remembrance Day, we look into the life of a Team GB Olympian who not only conquered the sporting landscape but made an impact all over the world.
David Haig-Thomas: The rower
In his early years at Eton, a young Haig-Thomas was well known as a rower, prankster and academic avoider.
His time at Cambridge was no different, with one exception: his rowing skills began to grow, and while little is known about Haig-Thomas's day-to-day on the waters at university, his successes stand out.
The London-born athlete clinched victory in the Ladies' Plate at Henley in 1930 with Lady Margaret Boat Club, the rowing club of St John's College, before going on to win the historic Boat Race three times with the Light Blue crew in 1930, 1931 and 1932.
And the very same boat that won in 1932 went on to have the year of their lives.
What followed included victory in the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley, rowing as Leander, and then an Olympic debut in Los Angeles.
As the men's British eight, the crew opened their campaign at the first Los Angeles Olympic Games with a second-place finish in the first round, four seconds behind Italy.
They went on to win the repechage and secure their place in a four-boat final.
But it was not to be, missing out on a medal by just 0.4 seconds to Canada, with the USA taking gold and Italy silver.
In his autobiography, Haig-Thomas went on to claim that an Olympic official told his crew that, had they won a medal, they would have been disqualified for swearing and immediately took solace in the prospect.
David Haig-Thomas: The explorer
Following the LA 1932 Olympics, Haig-Thomas's career took a completely different path.
Initially a hunter, his love of birds soon progressed to the study of them and he began to work as an ornithologist and bird photographer.
His understanding of the different species became the focus and reasoning behind his many expeditions, as he began to nurture his adventurous spirit.
In 1933, Haig-Thomas took part in a journey to Abyssinia with his former Cambridge contemporary to trace the route of the Awash River.
It was his first taste of a working expedition and one that led to the coldest parts of the Arctic as, a year later, Haig-Thomas was chosen as the ornithologist for the Oxford University Ellesmere Land Expedition.
Organised by Edward Shackleton, the son of prolific British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, and led by Noel Humphreys, the expedition's purpose was to explore the northern part of Ellesmere Island and map its coastline.
Assisted by two Greenland Inuit guides, Inutuk and Nukapinguaq, the expedition spent the winter of 1934 in Greenland before sledging across Smith Sound to reach Ellesmere Island in 1935, often using kayaks and canoes to travel and hunt.
He returned to Ellesmere two years later, leading his own expedition, and landed on the island that would one day bear his name in 1937-1938, with the footage he captured of the trip available to view with the British Film Institute.
Located in Massey Sound, Nunavut, Canada, Haig-Thomas Island is one of the Sverdrup Islands and forms part of both the Queen Elizabeth Islands and the Arctic Archipelago and was named after Haig-Thomas following his death.
David Haig-Thomas: The commando
In the lead-up to the Second World War, Haig-Thomas lived on Horsey Island with his wife and children.
He was commissioned as a second lieutenant for the Royal Army Service Corps in March 1940 and put his explorer nature to work serving in Iceland and north Greenland alongside other polar explorers. But in 1942, he joined a new unit even more suited to his character and skills: the Commandos.
Part of the No. 14 (Arctic) Commando, rowing once again returned to his life in a different way, specialising in using canoes and kayaks to infiltrate enemy positions in Arctic waters before moving to the specialist climbing and parachuting No.4 Commandos in 1943.
It was while with C Troop, No. 4 Commando that Haig-Thomas lost his life during Operation Overlord, the Allied campaign which marked the beginning of the liberation of Western Europe from German occupation.
Early in the morning of 6 June 1944 (D-Day), assigned to the paratroopers of the 6th Airborne Division as a liaison officer, Haig-Thomas parachuted into Normandy and was killed in action.
Correspondence between John Martin, nephew of Sgt Donald Martin, the section sergeant of C Troop, and Alex Haig-Thomas, the Olympian's grandson, is available online at the Commando Veterans Archive.
Martin wrote: "I understand that his (group of parachutists) came down on marshy ground close to the River Dives and well away from where they should have landed. They were ambushed near a crossroads and Haig-Thomas was killed."
David Haig-Thomas is buried in Bavent Churchyard, Calvados, Normandy.