Thunder Bay Rowing Club
Sports - Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Thunder Bay Rowing Club Employees
Thunder Bay Rowing Club Details
The Fort William Rowing Club started in 1904 and has continued strong to the present time, suspended only for the war years. After the cities of Fort William and Port Arthur became the amalgamated City of Thunder Bay, the Club changed its name to the Thunder Bay Rowing Club.In 1904 a clubhouse was built near the James Street swing-bridge in Westfort. In the 1930s the club was moved to its present location. For a time the club also ran a tennis program and maintained tennis courts near the clubhouse. Rowing was an incredibly popular sport in those early days and would be well-covered in the press. Regattas would draw hundreds of spectators and many large civic events would include a rowing competition as part of the festivities.In the mid-1970s, the Club ended its exclusivity to males by allowing female rowers. Leading up to the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the first to include women's rowing, two women even moved to Thunder Bay just to train for the Olympics and under the excellent coaching and facilities offered by TBRC.The Club has been a fierce competitor in the North West International Rowing Association (NWIRA) from 1906 right through to the present. NWIRA member clubs today also include Duluth, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Long Lake, Rochester, Kenora, Pinnawa, Winnipeg and Regina. At the annual NWIRA Championship Regatta these teams vie for the coveted Lipton Cup, donated by Sir Thomas Lipton, the Lipton Tea baron. The Fort William Rowing Club/ Thunder Bay Rowing Club has a proud history as a 20-time winner of the Lipton Cup. In addition to NWIRA championships, local rowers have competed and medalled nationally, internationally, at the Olympics and Paralympics. Twenty local rowers have been inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.
