This Page About Rowing in London, Ontario, Canada

Rowing in London, Ontario, Canada

Most people today would be surprised to learn that since pioneer times London, Ontario, has produced some of Canada's finest rowers. Sporadic successes, flawed memories, and a lack of research, publication and media attention account for the lack of recognition. This article will partially reconstruct that exciting history.

The first documented rowing regatta in London took place in 1849 on a now non-existent lake, Lake Horn, which was situated east of the current CPR Hotel (the "Ceeps"). The contest involved local citizens and British soldiers from the Twentieth Regiment, who were stationed at the military reservation on what is now called Victoria Park. In all likelihood, regattas were held before then but to date no evidence has been discovered to substantiate the claim. Local newspaper articles record an increasing number of rowing competitions during the late 1850s and 1860s, as crews from the "Arms," "Abbey" and "Tecumseh" hotels clashed oars in friendly rivalries on the south branch of the Thames River.

By 1870, however, it appears that these disparate rowing groups had merged under one banner, that of the London Rowing Club. The formation of this club was the result of a melange of factors which dramatically altered the nature of sport in London and elsewhere during the second half of the nineteenth century. The industrial revolution, more leisure time, and advancing technology (railways and steamboats) increased the numbers of participants and spectators in sport as well as in the sphere of competition; and city rather than local rivalries became more possible than in the past. Accordingly, in London the fastest oarsmen gravitated to the LRC to better their chances of winning against the best rowers from other municipalities. Two additional factors influenced the development of rowing and heightened the interest of Londoners in the sport during the 1870s and 1880s. First, a dam and waterworks were constructed at Springbank Park in 1878 to solve the city's sanitation problems. This decision created a superior rowing course almost overnight on the main branch of the Thames, and at least three new rowing clubs sprang into existence -- the Forest City Rowing Club, the Bank of Commerce Rowing Club and the Hanlan Boat Club. These new clubs, also with short histories, then raced against the established LRC, which by this time had been relocated to the southwest corner of the banks at the "Forks of the Thames." The second factor to raise the profile of rowing in London at this time was an event called the "Grand Regatta," which was held on the 8th of July, 1880; it would be without parallel in London's rowing history for more than a century. Over 3,000 spectators thronged to the event to view Canadian Ned Hanlan, the champion sculler of the world, and others display their rowing prowess. In all likelihood, these factors helped to prepare London oarsmen for their success at the first Henley regatta which was held in Toronto later that year. From the vantage point of 1880, therefore, the future of the sport in London looked bright.

Tragedy, however, struck in 1881. On the holiday weekend of May 24, 1881, the paddle wheeler "Victoria" sank on its return trip from Springbank Park to London; and almost 200 lives were lost. Legend has it two scullers were racing on the Thames River that day, and as they powered past the Victoria a large number of people rushed to one side to witness their efforts thereby causing the steamer to sink. As a result of this incident, boating enthusiasm on the river was severely restrained for many years.

Few details have survived about London's rowing history between 1890 and 1950, but we know that at the turn of the century the LRC was known as the London Bowling and Rowing Club; that club members staged an annual regatta on the Thames River each Dominion Day, which attracted competitors from several other municipalities; and that in 1905, four LBRC oarsmen won the workboat four race at Henley. This group's clubhouse, however, was decimated by the severe floods which swept through London in the late 1930s and 1940s; and it appears that the LBRC was dormant during World War II. Nonetheless, in 1954 a small group of Londoners re-established the LRC; and it operated out of two venues for over a decade. The one site was situated in an old barn near a lake which was created by a new dam west of the city (Fanshawe Lake), while the other was in a Pump House at Springbank Park. In general, LRC and University of Western Ontario officials together ran rowing programs for university students on the Lake and high school pupils on the River.

Beginning in the late 1960s, however, and for the next three decades, Londoners would undertake several important steps to raise the standard of rowing in their community. In 1968, the Western Rowing Club was founded; and several of its members participated very successfully in the Olympic trials that year, a first for Western. Many of these men remained at Western until the early 1970s, and established the purple and white's winning tradition in university circles. In addition, the WRC and U.W.O.R.C. membership tore down the old barn at the Lake at about this time and replaced it with a more modern shellhouse. Nevertheless, the London and Western clubs remained active partners until 1971, when they went their separate ways.

Across town, the LRC moved its operations in 1974 from the Pump House in Springbank Park one mile east to the newly-built Joe McManus Canoeing and Rowing Facility. These improvements, along with several more in ensuing years, would help an impressive number of town and gown crews win provincial and national titles over the next two decades. A number of these rowers, moreover, now both men and women, would also compete and win medals at World Championships and Pan American and Olympic Games, while a few local individuals went on to attain important administrative positions with provincial, national, and international rowing bodies. Provincial championships would be held on the Lake and the River too; and in 1994, London's first international championship rowing regatta was staged -- the Commonwealth Rowing Championships which attracted approximately 400 athletes from thirteen countries as well as 8,000 spectators. Furthermore, in the late 1990s Project 99, an undertaking designed to improve the land and water facilities at the Fanshawe rowing site, was initiated, to prepare for another Commonwealth Championships in 1999 and for the 2001 Canada Summer Games (now at the Doug Wells Rowing Centre, named after a distinguished Canadian and patron of the centre).

It is important to note that athletes from London and Western until the mid-1980s were compelled to leave the city in order to try out for the national team. That would change in 1986, however, as the major rowing groups in London consolidated their efforts and resources to win a High Performance Rowing Centre (a new concept) from Rowing Canada Aviron, one of two centres that were put up for bids that year. The second centre was awarded to Victoria, British Columbia, where it remains today. These decisions were important ones for Canadian rowing. The establishment of High Performance Centres in London and Victoria, along with several other important organizational changes, dramatically transformed rowing in Canada. In a few short years, Canadian rowers, many of whom lived and trained in London and Victoria, were elevated to a popularity not seen since the time of Hanlan; and the small but competent system which had produced these exceptional athletes was studied by admirers both at home and abroad. Not surprisingly, Canadians now expect their rowing heroes to march regularly to the medal podiums; and London, Ontario, with its once forgotten rowing tradition, is again a proud contributor to these results.

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