Manitoba has always been a powerhouse in the sport of rowing. Individuals from the 1930’s such as Theo Dubois, Robert Richards and Elswood Bole, and even the latter day Colleen Miller owe a debt of gratitude to the pioneers of their sport from the turn of the century.
Conrad S. Riley (inducted in 1982) was the heart and soul of the 1903 Winnipeg Rowing Club Senior Eights as the stroke on the squad. He joined the club during his late teens in 1893, and by 1900 he was voted Vice-Captain. In 1902 the Winnipeg crews went to the U.S. National Championships in Philadelphia and captured both the intermediate and senior eight events.
In 1903 they won the senior eights in the prestigious N.A.A.O. Regatta held in Worchester, Mass. Stanley Cup champion Charlie Johnstone (inducted in 1990) was on the squad. Other great rowing family names included Bole and Richards.
The Winnipeg Rowing Club went to the Royal Henley Regatta in England in 1904, where it finished second to the English champion from Cambridge. In 1910, they returned to Henley to defeat the favoured English and, in the final, beat the Germans to win the Stewards' Challenge Cup. The Winnipeg “Colonials” were the first non-English team to win the Henley title.
ROSTER: L-R: D. Bole, cox, Conrad S. Riley, stroke, F.H. Bole, Charlie Johnstone, Jimmy Boswell,
Selby Henderson, D.B. Sprague, R.R. Muir and S.E. Richards.
