Getting to Know the Kingston Rowing Club

Kingston Rowing Club
Established: 1977
Location: Kingston, Ont.
http://www.kingstonrowingclub.com/

Formally established during a meeting at City Hall on February 2, 1977, the Kingston Rowing Club has been operating successfully out of Kingston’s Inner Harbour for the last 45 years. However, the history of rowing in Kingston stretches back to the mid-1800’s when the sport of rowing was in its very infancy in a country that was still called ‘British North America’.

The first recorded mentions of rowing occurred in Kingston-area newspapers in the 1830’s. In 1832, a letter to the editor was published in the Chronicle and Gazette imploring Kingston residents to organize the ‘Annual Kingston Regatta’. Five years later, the first recorded regatta was held on the north side of the Cataraqui River from a point opposite a tent to a boat moored off Belle Island, a distance of 1.25 miles. Interest in the sport continued throughout the 1840’s however popularity declined in the 1850’s. Rowing in the Kingston area would resurface in the 1870’s, in part due to the success of national hero Ned Hanlan, whose exploits on the regatta course led to a boom in popularity throughout the country.

In 1881, the Canadian Amateur Association of Oarsmen (now Rowing Canada Aviron) was formed and on April 25, 1881 the Kingston Rowing Club became an inaugural member of the CAAO. Mayor E.J.B. Pense was elected the first President of the club, and construction on a boathouse at the foot of William Street began. The club hosted a regatta on July 1, 1881 and several more over the next few years. The initial success was short-lived however, as again interest in rowing started to wane. While the exact details are not known, the club dissolved some time before the turn of the century. The last report of rowing in the area was a sculls race in 1896 to commemorate the opening of the Kingston Yacht Club. It would be approximately 80 years before a rowing club would return to Kingston.

The fall of 1973 saw the return of rowing to Kingston thanks to a student initiative at Queen’s University. Peter Barr, a student from St. Catharines who also happened to compete in the double sculls for Canada at the 1972 Olympics, and George Gage, a first-year law student from Hamilton who would go on to become the long-time President of the Leander Boat Club, got together and organized the crew. The other members of the crew were coxswain Dave Takata and rowers Al Pasemko, Paul Sczusinski and Phil Tarawa of St. Catharines Rowing Club, Fraser MacKay and Larry Cooper of Ridley College and Jimmy Earle from the Brockville Rowing Club. The crew trained on the Inner Harbour in a borrowed shell from the Brockville Rowing Club and received coaching from two notable names, Neil Campbell from the SCRC and Chris Leach from the Peterborough Rowing Club. The crew earned a bronze medal in the varsity eight final at the OUAA Championships, Queen’s first ever appearance in the event.

A few years after the success of the initial crew, Bruce Alexander, a member of the Queen’s Board of Trustees proposed the establishment of a full-time rowing program at the University. A feasibility report was commissioned by the University and completed by rowing coach Douglas Clark. His recommendations in the 31-page report included starting an independent rowing club at Queen’s under the guidance of a full-time coach. After discussions with university officials, and athletics administrators, the proposal for a varsity rowing team was accepted and in the fall of 1977 the rowing program debuted at Queen’s as a probationary sport.

Around the same time of feasibility report was being conducted, Michael Davies, who was the publisher of the Whig Standard newspaper, chaired a series of meetings to discuss the viability of a community rowing club to serve Kingston and the surrounding district. This led to the formation of the Kingston Rowing Club in 1977, with Davies installed as the club’s first President (By coincidence, the first President of the former Kingston Rowing Club in the 1880’s, E.J.B. Pense, was also the publisher of the Whig Standard). Two former rowers with deep roots in the Ontario rowing community, John Armitage and Ian McFarlane, were named coaches of both the Queen’s University rowing team and the Kingston Rowing Club.

With the club now in operation they sought to improve its infrastructure and build a suitable boathouse to house its growing fleet. The first few years of operation were made more difficult by the logistics the club had to deal with on the Inner Harbour.

“When we started, we stored our boats at the Whig Standard newsprint warehouse, which was a long walk away from the waterfront.” said Armitage. “When we wanted to go out in the water we would either carry or put the motor of the coach boat in the back of car and go down to the waterfront. We would unlock the boats from a tree, and the rowers would carry the oars and boats down the street and launch. We would spend as much time launching and putting away the boats as we would on the water.”

The club’s fortunes changed when they received a 50/50 matching grant from the Ontario government’s Wintario program. As a civil engineer, Armitage designed the boathouse that the funding was put towards. The KRC joined up with the Cataraqui Canoe Club and jointly built the boat house, with two shorter bays for the canoe club, and two longer bays for the rowing club. The boathouse was also outfitted with individual change rooms and workout rooms and opened in 1980.

Davies would remain President for the first ten years of the club’s existence, a period which saw them develop their competitive programming and produce several elite level rowers. The Queen’s men’s varsity team won their first OUA Championship banner in 1980 and were followed the next year by the women’s team winning their first banner in 1981. Doug Hamilton and Mark Evans, who were both members of the gold-medal winning men’s novice eight at Queen’s in 1977, both moved on to the national team level and competed at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Evans won a gold medal in the men’s eight, while Hamilton won a bronze in the men’s quad. Hamilton’s quad would also win a gold medal at the 1985 World Rowing Championships, the first ever by a Canadian boat.

The KRC’s members have the option of rowing on 2km course just north of the club, but during the summer on nicer days they’re able to row into Lake Ontario and into the 1000 Islands which can be quite beautiful, especially during sunrise or sunset. Although hosting flatwater regattas haven’t been a major part of the club’s focus due to the sometime rough conditions, the club has hosted several different high-level regattas throughout their history. The first regatta to be hosted at the club came in 1978, when they hosted the Eastern Rowing Association High School Championships. They also hosted the Ontario Rowing Championships in 1981, which went a long way towards helping establish the club in the Ontario rowing community. They have also hosted the rowing events at the Ontario Summer Games on two occasions. They continue to host local high school regattas with participants coming from as far away as Ottawa and Brockville in addition to the Kingston-area high schools.

The club has also begun to use the rougher water conditions to their advantage in more recent years as the popularity of coastal rowing has grown.

The KRC’s programming has evolved over the years, and they now offer a full range of programs for all segments of the rowing community. In addition to their partnership with Queen’s University Rowing, they offer adult recreational rowing through the summer, junior and high school program in conjunction with local high schools, as well as competitive and masters programs. They also recently received a Trillium Grant which they plan to use to build a para rowing infrastructure at the club. Vandenburg credits Armitage with building the club’s programming to what it is today and for continuing to adapt and try new things as the sport evolves.

The initial success of developing elite level rowers in the early years of the club has continued throughout its history, with over 50 rowers who competed either at Queen’s or with the KRC moving on to the national team level. In recent years, one of the highlights came during the 2012 London Olympics when former members Will Crothers and Robbie Gibson helped the men’s eight to a memorable silver medal finish.

With the Kingston Rowing Club celebrating its 45^th anniversary this year, they show no signs of slowing down. They are constantly evolving and continue to be creative with their programming and structure. Five years ago, Queens University and the KRC reached a cost-sharing agreement to hire a full-time coach. Katie Bruggeling currently serves as the head coach of the Queen’s Rowing Team and performance coach for the Kingston Rowing Club. The club and the Kingston rowing community well positioned to continue to grow and prosper for another 45 years and beyond.

Thank you to John Armitage and Michael Vandenburg for their generous contributions and help in completing this profile. Photos are property of the Kingston Rowing Club.