They walked the walk
Placentia Lions recall their journey into history 40 years ago
When coxswain Adrian O’keefe came up with the idea of paying tribute to a group of men who carried a boat from Placentia to St. John’s and won the capital city’s regatta in 1877, he anticipated their might be some pushback from the rowers to whom he pitched the plan.
“I would be foolish to say that I didn’t have to twist a few wrists,” O’keefe said. “You’ve got to understand that most of the guys who were rowing (in Placentia) were only 18, 19, 20 years old, and their main aim was to go back and try and win another triple crown and, of course, compete in St. John’s.”
Indeed, O’keefe’s Placentia Lions crew not only claimed a triple crown for a second consecutive year in 1977 — winning championships in Harbour Grace, Placentia and St. John’s — they also did so after honouring the spirit of those men who rowed a century before them. Like that 1877 crew, they carried their boat all the way from Placentia to St. John’s.
On Friday during the opening ceremonies for the 54th Placentia Regatta, members of the 1977 Lions crew were celebrated, each receiving a special plaque, while a new framed picture that will be displayed in the boathouse was unveiled.
After winning the local regatta that year on a Saturday, the Placentia Lions crew — O’keefe, Frank Lannon, Tom Whittle, Brendan Whittle, Anthony Whittle, Gerard Barron, Leo Collins and spare Clem Whittle — took off the next morning for St. John’s with their boat. Jack Meade and Felix Lannon, who helped out with meals on the road, accompanied them.
“It wasn’t a small undertaking to walk to St. John’s,” said Tom Whittle, one of four brothers involved with the crew, “but the main thing … was we were going to do it between the regatta here and the regatta in St. John’s. So we were going to spend a lot of time on the road that we should spend practising … And we were walking in the hottest time of the summer, so we’d have a lot of blisters on our feet.”
They used a special harness that forced everyone to march as one.
“Everybody had to mark time the same as if you’re in the army, and everyone staying in step was key, because if you didn’t, it would literally tear the shoulders off ya,” said O’keefe.
On average, they managed 20 miles a day. They’d walk for a few hours in the morning, then leave the boat and get a ride to St. John’s to row for a couple of hours. Then, they’d come back to the boat, eat and continue their shell-lugging journey until about 10:30 at night.
Brendan Whittle remembers receiving a cake from back home as they were coming towards Witless Bay that said “St. John’s or bust” on it.
“We had a great bit of fun. We did,” he said. “We had a lot of support, too.”
They arrived with their boat on the morning of the Royal St. John’s Regatta.
“It was a good feeling to get it done,” Tom Whittle recalled.
O’keefe said it was always a big deal when a crew from outside the city won in St. John’s, adding that the backing they received from the people of Placentia was overwhelming.
“The support from the community back in our time frame of the 70s — and it still continues — was unreal,” he said. “They showed up with motorcades of 100, 200 cars … It was non-stop.”