Douglas Bennett (September 13, 1918 – June 28, 2008) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

sprint canoeist who competed from the mid-1930s to the late 1940s. He won a silver medal in the C-1 1000 m event at

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Prior to becoming a canoeist, Bennett played for the

Royal Montreal Hockey Club The Royal Montreal Hockey Club, also known as the Montreal Royals, was a Canadian amateur ice hockey club formed in Montreal, Quebec, in 1932. It operated various teams in men's junior and senior leagues until 1961. The senior team of the club wo ...

in 1937. He took up canoeing when his

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

career did not pan out. Winning several canoeing championships for Canada between 1934 and 1939, he qualified for the

1940 Summer Olympics The 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad, were originally scheduled to be held from September 21 to October 6, 1940, in Tokyo City, Empire of Japan. They were rescheduled for Helsinki, Finland, to be held from ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

that were subsequently cancelled. In 1947, Bennett was named

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

's Sportsman of the Year after winning Canada's C-1, C-2, and C-4 national championships. Following the 1948 games, Bennett retired and went to work for

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

department though he would continue canoeing for exercise. Bennett was a native of

Saint Lambert, Quebec Saint-Lambert () is a city (french: ville) in southwestern Quebec, Canada, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, opposite Montreal. It is part of the Urban agglomeration of Longueuil of the Montérégie administrative region. It ...

References

Sports-reference.com profile
1918 births 2008 deaths Canadian male canoeists 20th-century Canadian engineers Canadian ice hockey players Canoeists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic canoeists of Canada Olympic silver medalists for Canada Sportspeople from Quebec People from Saint-Lambert, Quebec Olympic medalists in canoeing Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Ice hockey people from Quebec Anglophone Quebec people {{canada-canoe-bio-stub