Burnaby Lake Rowing Club
| Burnaby Lake Rowing Club | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Burnaby, British Columbia |
| Founded | 1966 |
| Affiliations | Rowing Canada |
| Website | www |
The Burnaby Lake Rowing Club (BLRC) is a rowing club located at Burnaby Lake in the City of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
The Burnaby Lake Aquatic Club (BLAC) was founded in 1966. In 1989, the club changed its name to the Burnaby Lake Rowing Club (BLRC). The club has helped produce many world-class rowers. For the list of Burnaby Lake Rowers at the Olympics, see below.
In 1966, rowers Max Wieczorek, Daryl Sturdy,Roger Jackson and Robert Stubbs decided to train at Burnaby Lake. They lacked a coach, equipment and facilities. They approached Lawrence West who agreed to coach them. The crew loaned a coxed four rowing shell from the Lake Washington Rowing Club in Seattle, US, as well as four oars from the Shawnigan Lake School (SLS) in Vancouver Island. In addition, SLS's coxswain Billy Wheaton came from the city of Victoria to train with the crew during the summer. The Burnaby Lake Boosters Association enlisted the Reeve (Mayor) of Burnaby, Allan Emmott to be part of the group to support the oarsmen under the name Burnaby Lake Aquatic Club. Through the generosity of the Municipality, the club was able to operate out of an abandoned house at the bottom of Piper Avenue. The Vancouver Sun newspaper published an article about the crew: "Oar deep in lily pads, the crew of the Burnaby Lake Aquatic Club starts looking into open water. That's 18-year-old coxswain Bill Wheaton looking forlornly over his shoulder as Daryl Sturdy, Max Wieczorek, Roger Jackson and Bob Stubbs heave to in an effort to escape the green jungle." Ken Oakes, a Vancouver Sun photographer, took a picture of the crew out in the lily pads. The photo and story were featured in newspapers across the country, in the magazines Life and Paris Match.
In 1968, Daryl Sturdy and Robert Stubbs rowed in the 2x for Canada at the Mexico City Olympics. Both of them personally contributed $500.00 to be on the team to Mexico while the rowers from eastern Canada didn't have to. Harry Jerome suggested setting up a provincial association to get a more equitable distribution of funds forthcoming from the province. After the Olympics, the British Columbia Rowing Association (BCRA) was founded in 1969.
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