Olympic medalist rower Cracknell rescued

Rescue workers on a Royal Air Force helicopter and a Coastguard boat spotted Cracknell, 37, paddling a surfboard against a strong tide at nightfall near North Devon on New Year's Day, The Sun reported Thursday.

"At the time I didn't want to be a burden and my biggest worry was whether I was being irresponsible," Cracknell said. "I was told the Coastguard wanted me to come in and by this point I was pretty tired, so I thought, 'If you're going that way, I'll get a lift.'"

"He actually knew what he was doing -- he's an experienced man. He's paddled across the (English) Channel," said Nikki Tait, a spokeswoman for a lifeboat from Appledore.

The lifeboat brought Cracknell back to Putsborough.

"Although the man turned out to be in no harm at all, we would much rather turn out for a false alarm and find out that all is well, rather than us not to be called and miss a real emergency," said Martin Cox, the lifeboat's coxswain.

Cracknell won gold medals at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and received an Order of the British Empire award in 2004.

Copyright 2010 by United Press International.