Crosby Named to 2025 Row Ontario Hall of Fame Class

One of the most prominent members of the men’s national team throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s was honoured on Friday as Andy Crosby was named to the 2025 Row Ontario Hall of Fame induction class.

Crosby started his rowing career at the Leander Boat Club while in high school in 1983. He picked up rowing quickly under the tutelage of long-time Leander coach Jim Roche and saw some initial success in the junior program. Along with crewmates John Wallace, Bob Blunt, and coxswain Jesse Wolter, he won both the junior and senior coxed four at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in 1984, beating a U23 crew from Germany in the senior final. Following Crosby’s breakout rowing season in 1984, he joined the national team in 1985, for what would be a lengthy and successful national team career.

A graduate of the University of Victoria, where he rowed under another legendary coach with Leander connections in Al Morrow, Crosby helped the Vikes men’s eight go undefeated in the 1985-86 season, which included victories over crews from Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, Yale, Washington and their local rivals from UBC. He also competed in his first World Rowing Championships in 1985 and helped the men’s eight to a fourth-place finish at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. Crosby became a stalwart member of the eight, competing in the boat at the 1986 and 1987 World Rowing Championships, as well as his first Olympics in Seoul in 1988, where the crew came away with a sixth-place finish.

Following a year spent in the coxed four in 1989, Crosby returned to the eight in 1990. After several years off the international podium the experience the crew had gained over the last several began to pay off. The crew won back-to-back silver medals at the 1990 and 1991 World Rowing Championships, making them a medal favourite heading into the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Now one of the veterans on the national team, Crosby made his second trip to the Olympics in 1992 where he would reach the pinnacle of the sport. The eight pulled ahead of the Romanians at the halfway mark of the race and held on to win by just 0.14 seconds, the closest rowing final in Olympic history.

Now an Olympic gold medalist, Crosby retired from the sport after Barcelona but made his return to the national team a few years later. With his sights set on becoming a three-time Olympian, Crosby picked up where he left off and earned another seat in the men’s eight on the 1996 Olympic Team. In Atlanta, he narrowly missed out on a second Olympic medal, as the eight placed fourth, just 0.77 seconds off a bronze medal.

At the close of his national team career following the 1996 Olympics, Crosby had competed in six World Rowing Championships, won two World Rowing Championship medals, was a three-time Olympian and earned an Olympic gold medal. His accomplishments have been recognized previously with inductions into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame (2004) and Canadian Rowing Hall of Fame (2017).

Row Ontario is announcing the inductions of the 2025 Hall of Fame class throughout the week as part of ‘Hall of Fame Week’. Members of the class announced so far include, Ian McFarlane (Coach), who was announced in May, the 1984 Men’s Eight (Crew), Doug Marshall (Coach), Peter King (Builder), and Natalie Mastracci (Athlete). Stay tuned later today for the final inductee in the 2025 induction class of the Row Ontario Hall of Fame.