In Belgrade for the first World Cup of the 2012 season, Richard raced in the lightweight men's four with Peter Chambers, Rob Williams and Chris Bartley. In an exciting final, the crew won a silver medal with Denmark taking the gold and China the bronze.

For the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia, Richard raced in the lightweight men's four with crewmates Chris Bartley, Paul Mattick and Rob Williams. The crew came through from 6th for an extremely close finish to eventually take a bronze medal, just being pipped by Italy.

During the 2011 World Cup Series, Richard took bronze in the lightweight men's four in Munich, only .02 of a second behind France in second place with Denmark winning gold. In Lucerne, with Richard's brother, Peter Chambers, joining the crew, they won an impressive gold medal ahead of Italy and Denmark.

At the 2011 GB Rowing Team Senior Trials held on 16/17 April at Eton/Dorney, Richard was 5th in the lightweight men's single scull.

At the 2010 World Rowing Championships on New Zealand's Lake Karapiro, in an incredibly tight final, Richard - along with crewmates Chris Bartley, Paul Mattick and Rob Williams in the lightweight men's four - took gold by seven hundredths of a second, with Australia in second themselves just a hundredth of a second ahead of China in bronze.  A fabulous performance to cap a great season for the British crew.

For the 2010 World Cup Series, Richard raced in the lightweight men's four winning gold in Munich and Lucerne and silver in Bled.  This was an exceptional World Cup series for the four in a very competitive field.

Richard attended Coleraine Academical Institution where he began rowing at the age of 15 under the watchful eye of Bobby Platt MBE.  In 2003 he moved to Oxford Brookes University and joined the U23 team in 2005, where he won silver in the men's lightweight quad.

In 2006 Richard raced in the lightweight men's pair all season with Chris Bartley.  They won this event at the World Cup Regatta in Poznan and became World U23 Champions in the July.  With this gold medal under their belt they won selection for the World Rowing Championships in Eton where they made the A final finishing 6th.

He had an outstanding 2007 season in the lightweight men's four, winning bronze, silver and gold in the World Cup series to become World Cup Champion.  The crew went on to win gold at the World Championships in Munich, the first ever lightweight Olympic class Gold for GB! 

He was selected for his Olympic debut in the lightweight men's four for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and finished 5th.  

Richard was injured after the GB Rowing Team Senior Trials in April 2009 and this kept him out of a boat for the remainder of the 2009 season.  However, as he aspires to be a coach, he kept himself busy over the summer by coaching up and coming lightweights including the GB LM2- which competed in Poznan.  Fortunately he recovered enough to come back to full training for 2010.

He finished four years of studying Construction Management at Oxford Brookes University in 2007 and now trains full time with the men's lightweight squad.  Richard is a Christian and attends St Mary's church in Maidenhead where he is involved in youth work.  His younger brother Peter is also a member of the senior team.

Richard is Lottery Funded through UK Sport.