Holmes was taken ill last Monday (October 15) with what is suspected to be a case of the rare bacterial disease leptospirosis, also called Weil's disease.

He was thought to be responding well to treatment at King's College Hospital in London but it is understood his his liver and kidneys were badly affected.

Holmes passed away last night, just four weeks after the birth of his youngest daughter Parker.

Holmes proud Olympic record saw him compete as part of Britain's four-man rowing team which won gold at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.

Those medals are widely accredited with being the foundation on which Britain's now long-standing success in rowing is built.

Before Holmes's win - alongside Steve Redgrave, Richard Budgett, Martin Cross and cox Adrian Ellison - Britain had not won a rowing medal for 36 years.

Holmes and Redgrave's relationship continued through to the Seoul Olympics in 1988, where they won gold in the coxless and bronze in the coxed event.

Moynihan, himself a former rower and international team-mate of Holmes', was shocked to hear of the news while attending the Association of National Olympic Committees meetings here.

He told insidethegames: "It's a tragic loss, not just to rowing but to sport.

"He was one of the great oarsman of his generation who, with Steve Redgrave, took British rowing into a new era of winning.

"He broke the mould with Steve Redgrave.

"He was a wonderful guy who was a great ambassador for the sport on and off the water."

Sports and Olympic Minister Hugh Robertson also paid tribute to Holmes in the House of Commons.



Besides their Olympic triumph, Holmes and Redgrave also won the Commonwealth coxless pairs title in Strathclyde in 1986.

Holmes had drifted away from the sport after his partnership with Redgrave broke up and had set up his own removals business.

But recently he had revived his interest in the sport and two years ago began coaching.

He became director of rowing at both Furnivall Sculling Club, in Hammersmith, and the new Langley Academy, which trains on the 2012 Olympic lake at Dorney, near Eton.

Leptospirosis can be caught through contact with river or lake water which contains the urine of infected animals and is notorious amongst watersports athletes.

Holmes leaves his partner, Gabrielle, four daughters and one son.

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