HIGH ACHIEVERS: Stay-Safe Edition
The 2020 Summer Olympics are on hold until 2021, but the spirit of the Games is alive. The Ottawa Rowing Club, the oldest in Canada, is paying tribute to Ottawa Olympic rowers on its social media platforms. @OttawaRowing @ROWOntario @rowingcanada

The multi-posting series brings back good memories of double medallist Alison Korn, 2-time Olympian Michael Neary and Paralympic medallist Andrew Todd. @OttawaRowing 1st post featured Athol Charles Meech, Ottawa's 1st Olympic rowing medallist. Or was he? @ROWOntario @rowingcanada

As Canada entered the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, it had established itself as a country which knew the way to the podium. In the 1st 7 Games, Canada had won 13 gold, 12 silver, 18 bronze and rowing was a leader _ 3 silver and 3 bronze. @OttawaRowing @ROWOntario @rowingcanada

For the third time in its Olympic history, Canada was a double medal-winning rowing nation on Dutch waters. And Ottawa-born Athol Meech was part of that noted moment, when the men's 8 with coxswain raced four times to earn the bronze medal. @OttawaRowing @ROWOntario @rowingcanada

Meech, sitting in No. 6 seat as one of the youngest at 21, Frederick Hedges, Frank Fiddes, John Hand, Herbert Richardson, Jack Murdoch, Edgar Norris, William Ross and coxswain John Donnelly were members of Toronto's @ArgonautRowingC. @OttawaRowing @ROWOntario @rowingcanada

Canada won its opening-round heat by a five-second margin in a side-by-side race against Denmark. In round two, Canada had a relaxed solo effort in the 11-boat competition to set up a round-three win over Poland by almost 5 seconds. @OttawaRowing @ROWOntario @rowingcanada

In the semifinals, Canada faced the United States, which along with Great Britain were the traditional men's 8 favourites. Despite a late surge, Canada fell to the U.S. (6:02.0 to 6:03.8), missing a gold-medal shot, but earning the bronze. @OttawaRowing @ROWOntario @rowingcanada

Meech won his medal on Aug. 8, 1928. He died at Lake Scugog, ON, which is located between Port Perry and Lindsay, Aug. 2, 1981. @OttawaRowing @ROWOntario @rowingcanada

The @OttawaRowing posting about Athol Meech got me thinking. Was he the first Ottawa athlete to win a medal at the Summer Olympics? The answer: no. It appears there was an Olympic rowing medallist with Ottawa connections before him. @OttawaRowing @ROWOntario @rowingcanada

At the 1904 Games in St. Louis, Missouri, George Patten (Pat) Reiffenstein, who later changed his surname to Carr, was part of the Canadian men's 8, which won silver. He was born March 31, 1883 in Carleton County, now the City of Ottawa. @OttawaRowing @ROWOntario @rowingcanada

There was only one rowing race at those Olympics and that featured Vesper Boat Club of the United States and Toronto's @ArgonautRowingC. Vesper finished the 2,000-metre race with a three-boat-length margin victory. @OttawaRowing @ROWOntario @rowingcanada

At the 1904 Games, the 1st Ottawa athlete to win an Olympic medal was lacrosse player George Cattanach on July 7. He played for the Winnipeg Shamrocks, which downed the United States' St. Louis Amateur Athletic Association 8-2 for gold. @OttawaRowing @ROWOntario @rowingcanada

Golfer George Lyon, who was born in Richmond, ON., won five straight match-play games and the Olympic gold on Sept. 24. The 1904 Summer Olympics were part of an extended sports program from July 1 to Nov. 23. @OttawaRowing @ROWOntario @rowingcanada

T.P. (Tommy) Gorman, who would become a founder of the NHL and won 7 Stanley Cups as GM for 4 teams, Richard Louis Duckett of the Ottawa Nationals Lacrosse Club and Alexander Turnbull, who played in Perth, won Olympic lacrosse gold in 1908. @OttawaRowing @ROWOntario @rowingcanada

Sport shooter William Smith, who was born (May 11, 1877) and died (March 12, 1953) in Ottawa, helped Canada win the men's military rifle team bronze medal with a score of 2,439 points at the 1908 Games in London. @OttawaRowing @ROWOntario @rowingcanada

At the 1920 Summer Games in Antwerp, Ottawa-born Arthur Prud'Homme won his first three middleweight boxing bouts and earned the Olympic silver, after losing the final to Great Britain's Harry Malin. @OttawaRowing @ROWOntario @rowingcanada

Coming up Tuesday, Aug. 4, HIGH ACHIEVERS: Stay-Safe Edition looks back at the first Twilight track and field meet on the 2020 season. It was a little different than normal. @OttawaLionsTFC