It was a Lion-sized effort
Young Placentia crew replicated feat of 1877 crew from their town, then went out and capped off a Triple Crown season
Adrian O’keefe thought he had come up with a solid plan, an appropriate homage to a kindred Placentia rowing crew from a century before.
Most everybody else thought he was crazy.
It was 1977. O’keefe was coxswain of the Placentia Lions, the young crew that had won the men’s Triple Crown of Newfoundland fixed-seat rowing (champions in Placentia, Harbour Grace and St. John’s) the previous year and that was determined to do so again.
But O’keefe was more than a steerer when it came to rowing in Placentia. He also had fervently studied the history of the sport in the area, and was fascinated by the story of the Placentia Giants, who in 1877 had carried their boat all the way from their hometown to row in St. John’s, covering a route that had little in the way of constructed roads.
“Lo and behold, the story of the 1877 crew came through and we had just had won the Triple Crown in 1976. And so here it was the 100th anniversary and I thought it was a great opportunity to represent them and to honour our forefathers by doing what they had done,” said O’keefe.
But how many people believed he was nuts?
“Many, including the crew, to put it plain and simple,” answered O’keefe. “Understandably, they were focused on winning the Triple Crown again. That was their frame of mind, and yes, they had doubts (about the walking plan).”
But walk they did. And win they did, becoming the rare crew to claim back-to-back Triple Crowns, certainly the main factor in the Lions — O’keefe, Frank Lannon, Gerard Barron, Leo Collins, stroke oar Tom Whittle and his brothers Tony Whittle, Brendan Whittle and Clem Whittle (the team’s spare) — being inducted into the Royal St. John’s Regatta Hall of Fame.
The induction ceremony was earlier this week at St. John’s City Hall, where the 1989 Outer Cove/east Coast Marine juvenile crew also formally entered the Hall of Fame. That Outer Cove crew, which consisted of coxswain Gerard Doran and rowers Mike Cadigan, Carl Coady, Jason Noseworthy, Scott Winsor, Harold Kelly and Chris Andrews, established a juvenile course record at Quidi Vidi, one which still stands today.
Those Placentia Lions were also young — most still in their teens — when they strode and rowed their way into history.
“In fact, there was only one person in the crew (stroke Tom Whittle) who wasn’t eligible to row as an intermediate,” said O’keefe.
O’keefe had planned out the quest even before he told the rowers. He had designed a special harnesses that allowed the weight of the boat to be distributed evenly during the walk. And he had arranged to borrow a shell from St. John’s for his purpose.
“Mainly because our boats (in Placentia) were too heavy,” he said. “They weighed in excess of 1,000 pounds.’
But despite all the thought and preparation he had done, getting his rowers to go along with his plan still required O’keefe to be both convincing and stubborn.
“I had made up my mind it was going to happen. I thought it was too important for the community aspect of it. Whatever the case, we would have harnessed up six rowers and made the trip to St. John’s.”
The six turned out to be the young Lions.
“When the boat actually showed up, I think the boys knew the writing was on the wall, that we’d be walking it back to St. John’s,” said O’keefe.
“And in the big picture, I think the crew found out it didn’t hurt them. It became a building process. When you were saddled and hooked into the boat, you had no choice but to stay in step, just like you need to stay in rhythm when rowing.
“It was the team’s co-operation that made it all possible. They were strong physically, but even stronger mentally. That showed in the walk. It showed in the rowing.
“We walked together, ate together, camped out together. And I think when it came to rowing together, they were better because of it.”
It turned out well and Brendan Whittle, for one, has described the trek as “a great bit of fun,” but O’keefe admits the walk to St. John’s wasn’t always a stroll in the park.
“There was lot of stuff going on behind the scenes,” he said, “but the overall focus of the crew was amazing and the support we had was tremendous.”
He mentioned Dr. Lon Murphy, who came out to treat blistered feet on the first day of the walk. Woolen socks had been recommended, but in the mid-summer heat, some of the rowers had decided otherwise to their discomfort.
“And then there were Felix Lannon and Jack Meade, who drove the escort vehicles, front and back, with rotating lights. They also looked after food and things. The boys called them Mother and Father, and they were unsung heroes,” said O’keefe.
Leaving the day after winning the Placentia Regatta, they averaged about 35 kilometres a day over four and a half days, walking first in the cool of the early morning, then taking a break before leaving their boat behind to head to St. John’s for a practice spin.
“It was always busy (over the lunch hour at Quidi Vidi) with other crews, but we had the luxury to wait until they were pretty much finished and we had the pond pretty much to ourselves during the afternoon,” said O’keefe.
Then it was back to where they had left their boat, first eating supper before returning to their unique march, sometimes until 10:30 at night, then camping out.
“If memory serves me, the first night we stayed at the rock cut on the Argentia Access Road. The next night, it was at what I think they called the turkey farm just outside of Whitbourne. The third was where there used to be the old Golden Eagle site in Holyrood,” said O’keefe.
But would those outdoor bivouacs provide enough rest and recovery to make up for what was being expended on their journey?
“There was concern,” said O’keefe. “But after we were finished and after a day’s rest prior to the St. John’s Regatta, we went back home and we rowed the second-fastest time we ever rowed on the (Southeast Arm) course in a training run. That told me we hadn’t lost anything, that the odds were that we probably had gained by doing what we did.”
That was proven in their subsequent win at Quidi Vidi.
They didn’t return for a third shot in 1978. The Whittles would go on to form an all-family crew, while O’keefe and some of the remaining members of the 1977 champs concentrated more on slidingseat.
But as relatively brief the Lions’ dominance had been, it was noteworthy — Hall of Fame calibre, in fact — made even more so because of the 150-kilometre trek, when they lugged a racing shell and carried the hopes of their community.
“A special time. A special group of young men,” said O’keefe.