Club honours Olympic rowers

A St. Catharines Rowing Club crew that represented Canada at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo will continue to make a splash for many years into the future.

The club made sure Robert Brookson, Neil Campbell, Chris Leach, Daryl MacDonald and coach Gerry Lienert will remembered by naming a new boat in their honour.

It was one of seven shells dedicated at a boat christening Sunday.

Boats were also named for Olympians Brian Dick, Natalie Mastracci, Andy Van Ruyven and Buffy Williams, as well as long-time club volunteers Louise Hastings and Carl MacCulloch.

“The new boats will ensure that St. Catharines athletes have the opportunity to train and compete in equipment that enables them to reach their full potential and to compete locally, nationally and internationally,” Michelle Kerr, the rowing club’s president, said.

All but one of the shells were purchased with a $110,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley and Bill Williams, a member of the grant review team, were on hand to deliver congratulations.

“Rowing has a rich history in St. Catharines and our local athletes have had much success over the years because of the opportunities afforded to them by the St. Catharines Rowing Club,” Bradley said.

“This new equipment will allow our athletes to train and compete at the highest level with other elite athletes from around the world.”

With high school rowing done for another year, the club’s competitive season is just getting underway. St. Catharines Rowing Club members will be competing at regattas which will include the Dominion Day Regatta to be held in Welland this Saturday, the Independence Day Regatta in Philadelphia, the Central Ontario Championships, Canada Summer Games, the Ontario Club and Ontario Masters Championships, the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta as well as the international Can-Am-Mex Regatta.

Information about regattas and club programs, including the Youth Rowing School and the Adult Recreational League, can be found online at the club’s website at www. stcatharinesrowingclub.org.

At the Tokyo Games Robert Brookson, Neil Campbell, Chris Leach and Daryl MacDonald finished 11th in a men’s four, an event won by Denmark followed by Great Britain and the United States.