Guelph Rowing Club (GRC) is a community
rowing club located on
Guelph Lake
Guelph Lake is a man-made reservoir on the Speed River, in the Township of Guelph/Eramosa. It is located upriver and slightly northeast of the city of Guelph, Ontario. The reservoir was created in 1974, with the construction of the Guelph Lake da ...
, a dammed reservoir on the
Speed River
The Speed River is a river that flows through Wellington County and the Region of Waterloo in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It flows south from its source near Orton, through Guelph, where it is joined by the Eramosa River, then through the tow ...
, just north of the Ontario, Canada city of
Guelph. Rowing has been practised on Guelph Lake since the reservoir's construction in the mid 1970s. The current club was established in 1998 in coordination with the staging of rowing events for that year's Ontario Summer Games.
Notable members of the Guelph rowing community over the years include World Champion and Olympic rower
Mel LaForme
Melvin LaForme (born February 6, 1953) is a Canadian rower.
Biography
LaForme was born in Buffalo, New York in 1953. He represented Canada in the men's eight at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, where the team came eighths. He won a gold m ...
, Tim Briton-Foster as well as other Canadian National Team athletes including Adam Rabalski and Mark Henry.
Senior programmes including the University of Guelph Gryphons are currently headed up by Dr. David Leger, himself a graduate of
Guelph University, who raced for Guelph in the first few years of rowing on the lake in the late 1970s.
Affiliate programmes
A number of local high schools as well as the University of Guelph run rowing programmes as part of the Guelph Rowing Club. Many of the participants of these rowing teams train and race for Guelph outside of their school seasons.
University Programmes:
* University of Guelph Gryphons Rowing
Secondary School (high school) Programmes:
Competitions
Guelph Rowing Club members take part in a number of competitions annually in the region and across Canada (including some US
regattas) as well as hosting some of their own events. Notable events include:
* Guelph-McMaster Challenge - annual dual race between the University of Guelph and
McMaster University that takes place in mid to late September. Events include Varsity 8+ (1 each for men and women), Junior Varsity 8+ (multiple boats of each gender allowed) and Novice 8+ (multiple boats of each gender allowed). Men's and Women's trophies are awarded to the team whose first crews place highest overall in all three events.
*
References
Rowing clubs in Canada
Sport in Guelph
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