William Brigden (April 11, 1916 – January 16, 2005) was a
Canadian sprint canoer
Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race canoes or kayaks on calm water.
Overview
Race categories vary by the number of athletes in the boat, the length of the course, and whether the boat is a canoe or kayak. Canoe sprints are som ...
who competed in the 1940s and early 1950s. He finished 11th in the
K-2 10000 m event at the
1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...
in
Helsinki.
In addition to his Olympic performance and other successes in
sprint racing, Brigden was a successful
marathon racer and an avid
canoe tripper. He was well known as a designer and builder of
canoes,
kayak
A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' ().
The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...
s, and
paddles. He hand-made over 1,000 canoes during his lifetime, pioneering the use of
fibreglass for this purpose and continuing this vocation into his 80s.
Brigden's selection to the Canadian Olympic team in 1952 was notable due to his age and his province of origin. He was 36 years old at the Games, unusually old for an Olympic "rookie" and the oldest member of that Canadian canoe sprint team.
His K-2 partner in Helsinki,
James Nickel, was 14 years his junior. Since Brigden in 1952, no athlete from Manitoba has been selected to an Olympic canoe sprint team.
Brigden lived his entire life in
Winnipeg and had three children.
He was inducted into the
Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brigden, William
1916 births
2005 deaths
Sportspeople from Winnipeg
Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame inductees
Canadian male canoeists
Canoeists at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Olympic canoeists of Canada