The Ottawa Rowing Club (ORC) is a

rowing club A rowing club is a club for people interested in the sport of Rowing. Rowing clubs are usually near a body of water, whether natural or artificial, that is large enough for manoeuvering the shells (rowing boats). Clubs usually have a boat house w ...

based in the city of

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. It is the oldest continuous rowing club in Canada. It is a registered club with

Rowing Canada Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA), formally the Canadian Amateur Rowing Association, is a non-profit organization recognized by the Government of Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee as the national governing body for the sport of rowing in Canada. ...

and Row Ontario.

Location

Members of the Ottawa Rowing Club practice on the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...

, from

Chaudière Falls , image = Ottawa Chaudiere Falls.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = Chaudière Falls in June 2006, at summer water levels , map_image = , map_size = , coordinates = , coords_ref = , location ...

to Lower Duck Island, passing in front of the mouths of the

Rideau River The Rideau River (french: Rivière Rideau) is a river in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The river flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River at the Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario. Its length is . As explained in a writin ...

and

Gatineau River The Gatineau River (french: Rivière Gatineau, ) is a river in western Quebec, Canada, which rises in lakes north of the Baskatong Reservoir and flows south to join the Ottawa River at the city of Gatineau, Quebec. The river is long and drains ...

, and along the shore of Kettle Island.

History

Early rowing clubs

In the 1840s, rowing clubs and regattas appeared in the Upper Canada communities of Toronto, Brockville, Monkton, and Cobourg. By this time, Canadian oarsmen were competing against British and American oarsmen in regattas in Halifax, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and other centres.

History from 1867 to 1896

The Ottawa Rowing Club was founded on June 6, 1867. One of its founders and first patron was

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

, and notable vice-presidents were Robert Lyon, Mayor of Ottawa, and

Allan Gilmour Allan Gilmour (29 September 1805 – 18 November 1884) was a businessman in the shipping and timber industries and worked for the family firm in Britain and Canada. He worked for a firm established by his uncle Allan Gilmour Sr. Biograp ...

, a businessman. The club's first regatta, on September 26, 1867, was described as follows: The initial regattas organized by the club were mainly for professional rowers and attracted numerous crews and spectators. As an example, ten races were held at the 1869 regatta, with entrance fees per crew up to $10 and prizes for first place up to $100. A special train by the Saint-Lawrence and Ottawa railroad was offered for "the convenience of parties desiring to return the same evening." Barges were also provided for spectators. The original club house was a wooden building, initially built on pontoons, and moored to the shore of the Ottawa river at the foot of Parliament Hill, between the Rideau canal and the

. Whilst the view from the club house over the Chaudière Falls was picturesque, the rowing conditions were difficult: vast fields of sawdust and other refuse from an immense lumber mill situated about the falls, and logs escaping from the booms. Each spring, along with the melting ice, the club house floated downstream and came aground. Every year it was brought back up near the Rideau canal. As a result of those difficult environmental conditions, a "new and commodious boat house" was built in preparation to the 1869 Regatta organized by the club. In 1870, the club would have ceased their activities and the ownership of the boat house was transferred "to two or three members of the late Club". Discussions on the formation of a Boat House Company were held in order to avoid selling the property and boathouse (purchase offers were made by external parties). There is no record of the club from 1871 to 1874, until 25 June 1875 where the club would have been re-introduced with approximately 100 members. In 1884 and 1885, the club house suffered damages when it sank. Members of the club, led by

P. D. Ross Philip Dansken Ross (January 1, 1858 – July 5, 1949) was a Canadian journalist, newspaper publisher, and ice hockey administrator. Early life Philip Dansken Ross was born in Montreal to parents Christina Chalmers Dansken and Montreal accountan ...

, discussed building a permanent foundation for the boathouse in 1887. In 1891, Ross, an executive committee member of the Canadian Association of Amateur Oarsmen, declined hosting the association's regatta due to the bad course on the Ottawa river and unsatisfactory financial condition of the Ottawa Rowing Club.

History from 1896

In spring 1896, the club purchase a riverfront property below John A. Macdonald's home

Earnscliffe Earnscliffe is a Victorian manor in Ottawa, Ontario, built in the Gothic Revival style. During the late 19th century, it was home to Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. Since 1930, it has served as the residence of the Brit ...

. The boathouse would be left at its current, permanent location. For six consecutive years, from 1905 to 1911, members of the club were the North American champions. The two world wars were difficult years for the club, with fourteen members losing their lives while serving during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and with the boathouse showing signs of deterioration due to neglect. During the Depression years, P.D. Ross, former editor of the defunct ''Ottawa Journal'', was president of the club. He infuriated his reporters by paying them small salaries while openly spending into equipment and upkeep for the rowing club. The 1950s and 1960s was a period of decline for the Ottawa Rowing Club. After seizing the club due to financial constraints, in 1967 the City of Ottawa agreed to restore the part of the old boathouse which still exists today, but decided to demolish the other half of the building due to its poor condition. The demolished portion of the building stored boats and included a ballroom. In that year, the club only had nine members, and the permanent closure of the club was being debated. Volunteers, such as Peter King, supported the development of rowing in Ottawa in the 1970s. The rowing boom resulted in two new clubs (that do not exist anymore): the Nepean Rowing Club and the Ottawa Carleton Rowing School. With close to 1,000 members, the Ottawa Rowing Club is today one of the largest clubs in Canada.

University rowing

In 1949, when the University of Ottawa created the Physical Education Program, the Ottawa Rowing Club offered equipment and coaches.

Facilities

The Ottawa Rowing Club facilities includes two main buildings. The older building (est. 1896) houses members' privately owned skiff on the ground floor. The second floor is an interpretation centre that also serves as banquet facilities rented out for weddings and other conventions. The building was renovated in 1999 by the City of Ottawa. The second club house was built in 1987. It consists of a two-story building with four bays for shell and oar storage on the ground floor. Administrative offices, change rooms, and ergometers and weight room are located on the second floor.

Notable crews and rowers

The 1910 crew

In 1908 two four-man crews won numerous Canadian and American championships. These two crews were joined into a new shell in 1910: the "Bagnall", christened to the name of the person who provided the funds to purchase the boat. The eight won the 1910

Royal Canadian Henley Regatta The Royal Canadian Henley Regatta started in 1880 as the first championship for the newly formed Canadian Amateur Rowing Association. History It changed venues often until 1903, when it was decided to hold it at St. Catharines Port Dalhousie's M ...

and was the first holder of the Ned Hanlan Memorial Trophy. Within 24 hours of the victory, Ottawans raised funds to bring the crew to the National Association Regatta in Washington, D.C., where the Ottawa crew won again. The eight crew, but also a four-man crew, later competed at the

Grand Challenge Cup The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing competition for men's eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing cl ...

of the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...

in 1911, where they lost to

Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the st ...

, of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in the semi-finals. The coach of the 1910 crew was Jan A. Ten Eyck who captured ten U.S. National Championships as the coach for Syracuse University. Professional hockey player

Harvey Pulford Ernest Harvey Pulford (April 22, 1875 – October 31, 1940) was a Canadian athlete at the turn of the twentieth century, winning national championships in ice hockey, lacrosse, football, boxing, paddling and rowing. A highly regarded defenceman w ...

joined the Ottawa Rowing Club in 1905, and there, as stroke with the junior fours and then the senior eights, he brought first-place honours to the club at various regattas. In 1909, the Canadian Association of Amateur Oarsmen reinstated him after he had played professional hockey, despite being ineligible to compete as an amateur because he had played professional hockey. He was a member of the 1910 Ottawa Rowing Club eight, and later served as president of the club until his resignation in 1936.

Participation in international events

Athol Meech Athol Charles Meech (March 28, 1907 – August 2, 1981) was a Canadian rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attac ...

Rowing at the 1928 Summer Olympics Rowing at the 1928 Summer Olympics featured seven events, for men only. The competitions were held from 2 to 10 August. Medal summary Participating nations A total of 244 rowers from 19 nations competed at the Amsterdam Games: * * * * * ...

, men's eight.

Club colours

The colours of the club are Navy Blue diagonal stripe with Cardinal Red background. In 1887, the club's uniform consisted of a Navy Blue jacket, trimmed with Cardinal Red, white flannel trousers, and a white guernsey, trimmed with the club colours; and a Navy Blue cap with Cardinal Red bars, or a straw hat with the club colours and Navy Blue and Cardinal Red stripped stockings.1878 by-laws and rules of the Ottawa Rowing Club
/ref> File:ORC uniform.gif, Uniform File:ORC blade.jpg, Blade colours File:Rowing oars on Ottawa rowing club. Andy Binda Boathouse (3431090325).jpg, Oar colours, on Andy Binda Boathouse

References

External links

* https://ottawarowingclub.com/ {{Authority control Sport in Ottawa Rowing clubs in Canada