Vancouver rowing club
Encyclopedia
Vancouver Rowing Club (VRC) is a rowing
club in Vancouver
, British Columbia
, Canada
,
Originally formed in 1886 as the Vancouver Boating Club, the first clubhouse was built a year later. In 1890 one of the city's early athletic rivalries began when the Burrard Inlet Rowing Club built its headquarters just west of the Boating Club. Coal Harbour
became the scene of many colourful rowing regattas. On April 1, 1899, the two rival clubs amalgamated to form the Vancouver Rowing Club. The present heritage building in Stanley Park
was officially opened September 9, 1911.
The Vanouver Rowing Club membership is separated into two categories. Active Members are those who are associated with one of the sporting sections (Rowing
, Rugby, Yachting
or Field Hockey
) of the club. Social Members are not directly associated with any of the sections and are not entitled to vote at club meetings.
The Vancouver rowing cls currently have a fleet of 4 eights, 10 four person boats (quads & fours), 11 two person boats (primarily doubles but also pairs) and 5 singles, manufactured by Pocock, Hudson, and Kaschper. Our oars are manufactured by Croker and Concept 2.
BC Sports Hall of Fame
Local rowing supporters persuaded a hotel owner, Frank Read, to coach the new joint-venture crews. He was a gruff individual, known for refusing to mince his words or guard his comments. But he could coach and bring out the best in his athletes. While some people cringed at his public expressions, his athletes and the rowing community revered him.
Read started on an arduous training program that covered hundreds of miles over the choppy driftwood-strewn waters of Coal Harbour. His intensive program, often leading as far as the Second Narrows Bridge in all kinds of weather, morning and evening, soon began to produce results.
The first to suffer the consequences of Read's training programs were the crews from the universities of Oregon and Washington. To their horror and surprise an unknown force had appeared on the West Coast and soon began to threaten and then demolish what hitherto had been an American preserve. When the crews met, if the UBC/VRC eight did not win, they still managed to give their rivals a painful and exhausting challenge to remember. By the opening of the Commonwealth Games, Vancouver's rowing community was quietly confident that the Canadian eight would surprise the world.
The 1954 Commonwealth Games teams arrived in mid-July, but attention was focused on track and field, where, it was rumoured, an Englishman named Roger Bannister
was going to try to run the mile in four minutes or less. As far as the Canadian public knew, rowing would not be one of the exciting events for Canada. The "Miracle Mile" took place between Roger Bannister
and John Landy
at Empire Stadium, but the biggest upset of the games occurred when the Canadian eight, generally considered a crew of green kids, finished the 2000-metre course two and a half lengths ahead of Thames Rowing Club
, the English crew. As the official history of the Games told it: "The crowd was literally stunned by the fantastic victory and limp from excitement." For the first time ever, Canada had won a gold medal for eight in international competition beyond competition with the Americans.
After the final race, the Duke of Edinburgh
met with the chairman of the VRC rowing committee, Nelles Stacey, and asked what the club owed its victory to. The answer came back: "Frank Read, Frank Read, Frank Read." Intrigued, the Duke asked to meet Read and said, "You must come to Henley
." Read was not impressed, but the rest of the VRC committee took it as a royal command, and training and preparation followed until the crew left for England and the Grand Challenge Cup.
The 1950s had seen the reassurance of rowing in all countries, not the least of which was the then Soviet Union. There, sport had become a political tool in the Cold War, designed to show, through the excellence of its athletes, that the Communist way was superior to the way of the West. Their efforts had included rowing, and in 1954 they had appeared at the Henley Royal
and gone home with all the titles. It was, to say the least, embarrassing, and no one seemed able to do anything about it. In 1955 the invasion by these seemingly "professionals" state-subsidised oarsmen happened again and left the guardians of amateur sport, the Henley stewards, shaking their heads in dismay. Still, some hope existed; after all, this unknown crew, which had just won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, was entered and though the Soviets were heavily favoured, miracles did occasionally happen.
For the Canadian rowing club, the experience was not without hazards; their shell was caught in the middle of a British dock strike. Canadian and British officials tried their best, but the unions were unyielding and the boat was not released until the dispute had been settled. Meanwhile, the shell suffered the ravages of weeks of weathering and was no longer rowable. UBC/VRC used a borrowed boat.
UBC/VRC met Krasnoe Znamia, the Russian club, in the semifinals, where the Soviets quickly jumped into a three-quarter-length lead. At the quarter mile, the Russians dropped their rate to thirty-six, Vancouver to thirty-three. At the half-mile post the Russian lead was cut to six feet, and by the three-quarters mark, the Canadians were leading by six feet. When that position was announced, the vast crowd, expecting an easy Russian win, rose to their feet with a roar. To an ever-increasing win, the Vancouver crew rowed on to win by one and a half lengths. The Russians surrounded the victorious crew and marvelled at the style of "coming off the feather at the last moment." They called it the Read stroke and wondered, as do all losing crews, whether this was the secret of the Canadians’ success. The real secret, of course, was dedication, discipline and physical conditioning.
Nelles Stacey later stated that there were three records set that day at Henley: "Never had there been such wild cheering by a Henley crowd; never had the staid Henley stewards been seen to throw their caps in the air; and never before, during a race, had all the bars been empty."
In the final the next day against the University of Pennsylvania
, the crew lost by a third of a length in what was described as one of the finest races of the day. The loss was greeted as a victory: The House of Commons sent their congratulations, the mayor of Vancouver greeted them on arrival and gave them a motor parade through the city, followed by a formal address on the courthouse steps. Each member of the crew received a gold medal in recognition of their fine showing.
After this, the next challenge was the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. As a result of the strenuous training program, the crew rowed over 1,250 miles in three months. Neither gave any hint of what was to come. Virtually unnoticed training alongside the eight, and given little chance for success, was a coxless four stroked by Don Arnold, with Walter d'Hondt, Lorne Loomer and Archie MacKinon, coached by assistant coach John Warren. Frank Read remarked, "They don't look like much, but they sure move the boat." Still, they were not remarkable enough to be included in the Canadian Olympic Association's plans for an eleven-man team. Only promising to underwrite the costs of the trip was the Vancouver Rowing Committee able to finally persuade the COA to let the four go.
In the first heat on Lake Ballarat, 50 miles north of Melbourne, the four beat Germany by six lengths, with Australia and Denmark behind. In the semifinals, the winning margin was an astounding ten lengths over France, Russia and Poland. The eight, meanwhile, finished second to Australia in the first heat and sent the Americans to the repachage (a second chance to qualify) in a stunning upset.
In the finals, the four went out and beat the United States by five lengths, with Italy and France following. This team, one of several high-ranking crews of world-class coach Frank Read, achieved probably the largest victory of margin of any crew in the modern games. The victory signaled a decisive shift of Canadian rowing excellence from its former traditional base of Toronto, Ontario to the Pacific Coast. It was Canada's first ever Olympic Gold Medal in rowing.
How close the eight came to winning another gold medal will always be a matter of speculation. The Americans won by half a length, but three of their oarsmen collapsed and two required medical attention. Truly, it was a performance in the highest traditions of the Olympic spirit. It was also a sweet vindication for the efforts to convince the COA.
On their return to a justifiably proud Vancouver, someone in the crowd asked Read, "When did you think they were going to win?" Read's reply, "When they left the boathouse."
Read coached again for the 1960 Olympic games, held in Rome. There, the race in the final for the eight became a battle between Canada and (at that time) West Germany, with a crew from the German rowing academy at Ratzeburg. With 200 metres to go, the Ratzeburg crew put on a magnificent spurt to win by four seconds. Canada's silver medal was the only medal Canada won at the Rome Olympics. It also marked the end of the Frank Read era.
and Roger Jackson
when they competed at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. In August, two months before the Olympics, Hungerford had come down with mononucleosis and was forced to give up his seat in the men's eights. Six weeks before Tokyo, Hungerford recovered enough to train and created a formidable partnership with Jackson. Because of the hasty manner in which the Hungerford/Jackson team had been assembled, they sat at the start line of the final with a borrowed boat. But the dark horses from Canada raced their scull to its second gold medal in eight years.
2007
2006
2005
1964
1960
1956
1954
1932
3rd Double Sculls 2x Los Angeles Olympics
1924
International players from VRC Rugby have included: Ian Stuart, Richard Bice, Ian Cooper, Chris Mitchaluk, Ian Kennedy, Andy Wilson, Ruth Hellerud-Brown, Heather Wilson, Dawn Keim, Scott Harnden, Dawn Williams, Angie Hay, Mutya Macatumpag, Brad Martin, Rob Houston, Mike Webb and Stirling Richmond.
The scarlet and white hoops of Rowers have toured the USA, Australia
, New Zealand
, Hong Kong
, Japan
, Korea
, Philippines
, France
, Scotland
, England
and Wales
, and each year Rowers host touring teams from all over the world, many of whom have decades of touring history with the Rowing Club.
Each year at the club Captain's Dinner, the club honours not only past captains of victorious teams, but also acknowledges all those who have contributed, on the field or off, to the club's successes.
. Their team won the first ever Savage Cup
which was awarded at the end of the 1912-13 season.
The Jokers Field Hockey Club was started in 1964 by a group of Vancouver
field hockey
players who were dedicated to enjoying life, both on and off the field. The club's aim, then and now, to play a good brand of competitive hockey but also to emphasize hockey friendship and sociability.
In 1974, the Jokers joined the Vancouver Rowing Club to become the well-known and historic sports club's hockey section. The VRC's excellent clubhouse and facilities, centrally located in beautiful Stanley Park, have greatly enhanced our hockey and social events.
, live band and dancing. One of the Club's most popular events is Awards Night - the antics of the presenters doling out precious awards such as the Bent Prop, has to be seen to be believed. On the opposite end of the spectrum there are organized Dock Parties and Pub Nights; the latter featuring everything from guest speakers to the annual Nautical Trivia Night. The Social activities of the Vancouver Rowing Club are anything but dull!
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
club in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
,
Originally formed in 1886 as the Vancouver Boating Club, the first clubhouse was built a year later. In 1890 one of the city's early athletic rivalries began when the Burrard Inlet Rowing Club built its headquarters just west of the Boating Club. Coal Harbour
Coal Harbour
Coal Harbour is the name for a section of Burrard Inlet lying between Vancouver, Canada's downtown peninsula and the Brockton Peninsula of Stanley Park...
became the scene of many colourful rowing regattas. On April 1, 1899, the two rival clubs amalgamated to form the Vancouver Rowing Club. The present heritage building in Stanley Park
Stanley Park
Stanley Park is a 404.9 hectare urban park bordering downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was opened in 1888 by David Oppenheimer in the name of Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor-General of Canada....
was officially opened September 9, 1911.
The Vanouver Rowing Club membership is separated into two categories. Active Members are those who are associated with one of the sporting sections (Rowing
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
, Rugby, Yachting
Yachting
Yachting refers to recreational sailing or boating, the specific act of sailing or using other water vessels for sporting purposes.-Competitive sailing:...
or Field Hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
) of the club. Social Members are not directly associated with any of the sections and are not entitled to vote at club meetings.
VRC Rowing
The founding sport of the Vancouver Rowing Club continues its tradition of athletic excellence. VRC celebrates an impressive international record, placing athletes on Canada's Olympic, Pan American and Commonwealth Games Teams. The club offers rowing to a variety of groups, Juniors, Open, Masters, Adaptive, Novice, Recreational and Corporate. Popular "Learn to Row" courses on Coal Harbour play an important role in the development of rowing in Vancouver.The Vancouver rowing cls currently have a fleet of 4 eights, 10 four person boats (quads & fours), 11 two person boats (primarily doubles but also pairs) and 5 singles, manufactured by Pocock, Hudson, and Kaschper. Our oars are manufactured by Croker and Concept 2.
Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame
- 1958 induction - Don ArnoldDonald ArnoldCompetitor for CanadaDonald John Arnold is a Canadian competition rower and Olympic champion....
, Lorne LoomerLorne LoomerLorne Loomer is a Canadian competition rower and Olympic champion.He received a gold medal in coxless fours at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, together with Archibald McKinnon, Walter D'Hondt and Donald Arnold....
, Archibald McKinnon, Ignace Walter D'Hont, Carl Ogawa, Richard Neil McClure, Phillip Keuber, Douglas McDonaldDouglas McDonaldDouglas John McDonald is a Canadian rower who competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics.In 1956 he was a crew member of the Canadian boat which won the silver medal in the eights event.-External links:*...
, and William McKerlich as Athletes - 1971 indcution - George HungerfordGeorge HungerfordGeorge William Hungerford, is a Canadian lawyer and Olympic gold medalist rower. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia....
and Roger JacksonRoger JacksonRoger Charles Jackson, is a Canadian academic and Olympic gold medalist rower. He was born in Toronto, Ontario....
as Athletes - 1974 induction - Frank Read as a Builder
- 1994 induction - Derek PorterDerek PorterDerek Nesbitt-Porter is a gold medal-winning Olympic rower from Canada. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and his father Hugh rowed for the United Kingdom at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, winning a bronze medal in the eight-oared race.Porter won his gold medal in the...
as an Athlete
BC Sports Hall of FameBC Sports Hall of FameFor over 40 years, the community has entrusted the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum with the responsibility to collect, preserve, study, and interpret materials that relate to British Columbia’s rich sport history...
- 1966 induction - 1954 UBC/VRC Eights (Men) and 1956 UBC/VCR Coxless Fours (Men) as a Team and George Hungerford as an Athlete.
- 1976 induction - 1956 UBC/VCR Eights (Men) as a Team.
- 1977 induction - 1924 VRC Coxless Fours (Men) and 1960 UBC/VCR Eights (Men) were inducted as a Team.
- 1980 induction - 1932 VRC Double Sculls (Men) was inducted as a Team.
- 1996 induction - Frank Read was inducted as a Builder and Derek Porter as an Athlete.
1954 Commonwealth Games and Frank Read
In the West, the long established Vancouver Rowing Club found itself with the expertise and the facilities but without athletes, while the University of British Columbia was full of prime athletes but had no rowing traditions. When Vancouver was chosen to host the 5th British Empire and 1954 Commonwealth Games, conditions seemed right for the two to join forces. From this joint venture came the UBC/VRC crews and a new and unexpected force in rowing.Local rowing supporters persuaded a hotel owner, Frank Read, to coach the new joint-venture crews. He was a gruff individual, known for refusing to mince his words or guard his comments. But he could coach and bring out the best in his athletes. While some people cringed at his public expressions, his athletes and the rowing community revered him.
Read started on an arduous training program that covered hundreds of miles over the choppy driftwood-strewn waters of Coal Harbour. His intensive program, often leading as far as the Second Narrows Bridge in all kinds of weather, morning and evening, soon began to produce results.
The first to suffer the consequences of Read's training programs were the crews from the universities of Oregon and Washington. To their horror and surprise an unknown force had appeared on the West Coast and soon began to threaten and then demolish what hitherto had been an American preserve. When the crews met, if the UBC/VRC eight did not win, they still managed to give their rivals a painful and exhausting challenge to remember. By the opening of the Commonwealth Games, Vancouver's rowing community was quietly confident that the Canadian eight would surprise the world.
The 1954 Commonwealth Games teams arrived in mid-July, but attention was focused on track and field, where, it was rumoured, an Englishman named Roger Bannister
Roger Bannister
Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister, CBE is an English former athlete best known for running the first recorded mile in less than 4 minutes...
was going to try to run the mile in four minutes or less. As far as the Canadian public knew, rowing would not be one of the exciting events for Canada. The "Miracle Mile" took place between Roger Bannister
Roger Bannister
Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister, CBE is an English former athlete best known for running the first recorded mile in less than 4 minutes...
and John Landy
John Landy
John Michael Landy, AC, CVO, MBE is an Australian former Olympic track athlete. He was the second man to break the four-minute mile barrier in the mile run, and he held the world records for the 1500 metre run and the mile race...
at Empire Stadium, but the biggest upset of the games occurred when the Canadian eight, generally considered a crew of green kids, finished the 2000-metre course two and a half lengths ahead of Thames Rowing Club
Thames Rowing Club
Thames Rowing Club is a rowing club situated on the River Thames in Putney, London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1860.-Club colours:Red, white and black in stripes, the white stripe lying between the red and black and being of half their width....
, the English crew. As the official history of the Games told it: "The crowd was literally stunned by the fantastic victory and limp from excitement." For the first time ever, Canada had won a gold medal for eight in international competition beyond competition with the Americans.
After the final race, the Duke of Edinburgh
Duke of Edinburgh
The Duke of Edinburgh is a British royal title, named after the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, which has been conferred upon members of the British royal family only four times times since its creation in 1726...
met with the chairman of the VRC rowing committee, Nelles Stacey, and asked what the club owed its victory to. The answer came back: "Frank Read, Frank Read, Frank Read." Intrigued, the Duke asked to meet Read and said, "You must come to Henley
Henley
- Places :UK:*Henley-on-Thames, a town in South Oxfordshire, England**Henley Rural District, a former rural district in Oxfordshire*Henley-in-Arden, a village in Warwickshire, England*Henley, Suffolk, a village in Suffolk, England...
." Read was not impressed, but the rest of the VRC committee took it as a royal command, and training and preparation followed until the crew left for England and the Grand Challenge Cup.
The 1950s had seen the reassurance of rowing in all countries, not the least of which was the then Soviet Union. There, sport had become a political tool in the Cold War, designed to show, through the excellence of its athletes, that the Communist way was superior to the way of the West. Their efforts had included rowing, and in 1954 they had appeared at the Henley Royal
Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...
and gone home with all the titles. It was, to say the least, embarrassing, and no one seemed able to do anything about it. In 1955 the invasion by these seemingly "professionals" state-subsidised oarsmen happened again and left the guardians of amateur sport, the Henley stewards, shaking their heads in dismay. Still, some hope existed; after all, this unknown crew, which had just won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, was entered and though the Soviets were heavily favoured, miracles did occasionally happen.
For the Canadian rowing club, the experience was not without hazards; their shell was caught in the middle of a British dock strike. Canadian and British officials tried their best, but the unions were unyielding and the boat was not released until the dispute had been settled. Meanwhile, the shell suffered the ravages of weeks of weathering and was no longer rowable. UBC/VRC used a borrowed boat.
UBC/VRC met Krasnoe Znamia, the Russian club, in the semifinals, where the Soviets quickly jumped into a three-quarter-length lead. At the quarter mile, the Russians dropped their rate to thirty-six, Vancouver to thirty-three. At the half-mile post the Russian lead was cut to six feet, and by the three-quarters mark, the Canadians were leading by six feet. When that position was announced, the vast crowd, expecting an easy Russian win, rose to their feet with a roar. To an ever-increasing win, the Vancouver crew rowed on to win by one and a half lengths. The Russians surrounded the victorious crew and marvelled at the style of "coming off the feather at the last moment." They called it the Read stroke and wondered, as do all losing crews, whether this was the secret of the Canadians’ success. The real secret, of course, was dedication, discipline and physical conditioning.
Nelles Stacey later stated that there were three records set that day at Henley: "Never had there been such wild cheering by a Henley crowd; never had the staid Henley stewards been seen to throw their caps in the air; and never before, during a race, had all the bars been empty."
In the final the next day against the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, the crew lost by a third of a length in what was described as one of the finest races of the day. The loss was greeted as a victory: The House of Commons sent their congratulations, the mayor of Vancouver greeted them on arrival and gave them a motor parade through the city, followed by a formal address on the courthouse steps. Each member of the crew received a gold medal in recognition of their fine showing.
After this, the next challenge was the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. As a result of the strenuous training program, the crew rowed over 1,250 miles in three months. Neither gave any hint of what was to come. Virtually unnoticed training alongside the eight, and given little chance for success, was a coxless four stroked by Don Arnold, with Walter d'Hondt, Lorne Loomer and Archie MacKinon, coached by assistant coach John Warren. Frank Read remarked, "They don't look like much, but they sure move the boat." Still, they were not remarkable enough to be included in the Canadian Olympic Association's plans for an eleven-man team. Only promising to underwrite the costs of the trip was the Vancouver Rowing Committee able to finally persuade the COA to let the four go.
In the first heat on Lake Ballarat, 50 miles north of Melbourne, the four beat Germany by six lengths, with Australia and Denmark behind. In the semifinals, the winning margin was an astounding ten lengths over France, Russia and Poland. The eight, meanwhile, finished second to Australia in the first heat and sent the Americans to the repachage (a second chance to qualify) in a stunning upset.
In the finals, the four went out and beat the United States by five lengths, with Italy and France following. This team, one of several high-ranking crews of world-class coach Frank Read, achieved probably the largest victory of margin of any crew in the modern games. The victory signaled a decisive shift of Canadian rowing excellence from its former traditional base of Toronto, Ontario to the Pacific Coast. It was Canada's first ever Olympic Gold Medal in rowing.
How close the eight came to winning another gold medal will always be a matter of speculation. The Americans won by half a length, but three of their oarsmen collapsed and two required medical attention. Truly, it was a performance in the highest traditions of the Olympic spirit. It was also a sweet vindication for the efforts to convince the COA.
On their return to a justifiably proud Vancouver, someone in the crowd asked Read, "When did you think they were going to win?" Read's reply, "When they left the boathouse."
Read coached again for the 1960 Olympic games, held in Rome. There, the race in the final for the eight became a battle between Canada and (at that time) West Germany, with a crew from the German rowing academy at Ratzeburg. With 200 metres to go, the Ratzeburg crew put on a magnificent spurt to win by four seconds. Canada's silver medal was the only medal Canada won at the Rome Olympics. It also marked the end of the Frank Read era.
1964 Olympics
Expectations were not high for George HungerfordGeorge Hungerford
George William Hungerford, is a Canadian lawyer and Olympic gold medalist rower. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia....
and Roger Jackson
Roger Jackson
Roger Charles Jackson, is a Canadian academic and Olympic gold medalist rower. He was born in Toronto, Ontario....
when they competed at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. In August, two months before the Olympics, Hungerford had come down with mononucleosis and was forced to give up his seat in the men's eights. Six weeks before Tokyo, Hungerford recovered enough to train and created a formidable partnership with Jackson. Because of the hasty manner in which the Hungerford/Jackson team had been assembled, they sat at the start line of the final with a borrowed boat. But the dark horses from Canada raced their scull to its second gold medal in eight years.
Notable Results
2008- 1st Master A Singles Men Royal Canadian Henley RegattaRoyal Canadian Henley RegattaThe Royal Canadian Henley Regatta started in 1880 as the first championship for the newly formed Canadian Amateur Rowing Association. It changed venues often until 1903, when it was decided to hold it at St. Catharines Port Dalhousie's Martindale Pond hosted by the St...
- 2nd U-19 Women's 4x Royal Canadian Henley RegattaRoyal Canadian Henley RegattaThe Royal Canadian Henley Regatta started in 1880 as the first championship for the newly formed Canadian Amateur Rowing Association. It changed venues often until 1903, when it was decided to hold it at St. Catharines Port Dalhousie's Martindale Pond hosted by the St...
- 3rd U-19 Women's 4x Royal Canadian Henley RegattaRoyal Canadian Henley RegattaThe Royal Canadian Henley Regatta started in 1880 as the first championship for the newly formed Canadian Amateur Rowing Association. It changed venues often until 1903, when it was decided to hold it at St. Catharines Port Dalhousie's Martindale Pond hosted by the St...
2007
- 1st Senior-Master Doubles Men 60+ Head of the Charles RegattaHead of the Charles RegattaThe Head of the Charles Regatta, also known as HOCR or HOTC, is a rowing race held on the penultimate complete weekend of October each year on the Charles River, which separates Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The race is named the "Head" of the Charles because it is a head race...
- 3rd Master Singles Men Head of the Charles RegattaHead of the Charles RegattaThe Head of the Charles Regatta, also known as HOCR or HOTC, is a rowing race held on the penultimate complete weekend of October each year on the Charles River, which separates Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The race is named the "Head" of the Charles because it is a head race...
- 2nd U-17 Women's 4x Royal Canadian Henley RegattaRoyal Canadian Henley RegattaThe Royal Canadian Henley Regatta started in 1880 as the first championship for the newly formed Canadian Amateur Rowing Association. It changed venues often until 1903, when it was decided to hold it at St. Catharines Port Dalhousie's Martindale Pond hosted by the St...
2006
- 1st Master Singles Men Head of the Charles RegattaHead of the Charles RegattaThe Head of the Charles Regatta, also known as HOCR or HOTC, is a rowing race held on the penultimate complete weekend of October each year on the Charles River, which separates Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The race is named the "Head" of the Charles because it is a head race...
- 1st Director's Challenge Quads Men Head of the Charles RegattaHead of the Charles RegattaThe Head of the Charles Regatta, also known as HOCR or HOTC, is a rowing race held on the penultimate complete weekend of October each year on the Charles River, which separates Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The race is named the "Head" of the Charles because it is a head race...
2005
- 2nd Master A Singles Men Edmonton World Masters Games
1964
- 1st Coxless Pair 2- Tokyo Olympics
1960
- 2nd Men's Eight 8+ Rome Olympics1960 Summer OlympicsThe 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...
1956
- 1st Men's Coxless Four 4- Melbourne Olympics1956 Summer OlympicsThe 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
- 2nd Men's Eight 8+ Melbourne Olympics1956 Summer OlympicsThe 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
1954
- 1st Men's Eight 8+ Vancouver Commonwealth Games
1932
3rd Double Sculls 2x Los Angeles Olympics
Los Angeles Olympics
Los Angeles Olympics may refer to:* 1932 Summer Olympics* 1984 Summer Olympics...
1924
- 2nd Coxless Four Paris Olympics1924 Summer OlympicsThe 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...
VRC Rugby
VRC celebrates 100 years of rugby in 2008. In the autumn of 1908, VRC rowers seeking to keep fit during their off-season formed a rugby team, which has come to be known as "Rowers".International players from VRC Rugby have included: Ian Stuart, Richard Bice, Ian Cooper, Chris Mitchaluk, Ian Kennedy, Andy Wilson, Ruth Hellerud-Brown, Heather Wilson, Dawn Keim, Scott Harnden, Dawn Williams, Angie Hay, Mutya Macatumpag, Brad Martin, Rob Houston, Mike Webb and Stirling Richmond.
The scarlet and white hoops of Rowers have toured the USA, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, and each year Rowers host touring teams from all over the world, many of whom have decades of touring history with the Rowing Club.
Each year at the club Captain's Dinner, the club honours not only past captains of victorious teams, but also acknowledges all those who have contributed, on the field or off, to the club's successes.
VRC Hockey
In the early 1900's, the Vancouver Rowing Club participated in senior men's ice hockeyIce hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
. Their team won the first ever Savage Cup
Savage Cup
The Savage Cup is the trophy that is awarded to British Columbia’s senior ice hockey champions.This trophy was first presented in 1912-13 to the ice hockey team fielded by the Vancouver Rowing Club....
which was awarded at the end of the 1912-13 season.
The Jokers Field Hockey Club was started in 1964 by a group of Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
players who were dedicated to enjoying life, both on and off the field. The club's aim, then and now, to play a good brand of competitive hockey but also to emphasize hockey friendship and sociability.
In 1974, the Jokers joined the Vancouver Rowing Club to become the well-known and historic sports club's hockey section. The VRC's excellent clubhouse and facilities, centrally located in beautiful Stanley Park, have greatly enhanced our hockey and social events.
VRC Yachting
When people hear "Social" and "Yachting" in the same sentence, visions of crusty old salts in a smoke filled room come to mind. Far from it! The social activities of the Yachting Section are designed to get members to mingle and have fun, for old and young. Even more traditional events, such as the Commodore's Sail Past, are lots of fun with a barbecueBarbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...
, live band and dancing. One of the Club's most popular events is Awards Night - the antics of the presenters doling out precious awards such as the Bent Prop, has to be seen to be believed. On the opposite end of the spectrum there are organized Dock Parties and Pub Nights; the latter featuring everything from guest speakers to the annual Nautical Trivia Night. The Social activities of the Vancouver Rowing Club are anything but dull!