Winnipeg Rowing Club - Winnipeg | Canadian Rowing Clubs | Row HQ

Winnipeg Rowing Club rows on the Red River from 20 Lyndale Drive in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The club offers instruction and programmes for a range of ages and skill levels, and the Manitoba Rowing Association identifies it as a member-run non-profit organisation.

Cousins George and John Galt II founded the club in 1881 after building a rowing boat and rowing on the Red River. The club was incorporated on 2 February 1883, and Manitoba passed the Winnipeg Rowing Club Act in 1886. Its history says operations stopped only during the First and Second World Wars.

After more than 50 years at 144 Lyndale Drive, WRC moved to 20 Lyndale Drive in 1990 in time to host the Western Canada Summer Games. The current Riley Boathouse houses the club's shells and oars and was named for the Riley family in 2014. Conrad S. Riley won at the North West International Rowing Association regatta and Royal Henley in 1904, while Derek Riley later represented Canada in the double sculls at the Helsinki Olympics.

Current programmes include Learn to Row for juniors and adults, junior rowing, adult recreational rowing and competitive training. The competitive programme covers juniors aged 13 to 18, seniors aged 19 and over, and masters aged 23 and over, with racing at local, regional and national regattas.

WRC's 1910 senior four defeated Thames Rowing Club before beating Mainzer Ruder-Verein in the Stewards' Challenge Cup final at Henley Royal Regatta. The club records this as the first victory in that event by a non-English club.

Its notable-member history includes Janine Stephens, a 2012 Olympic silver medallist; Meghan Montgomery, a four-time world championship medallist and 2016 Paralympic bronze medallist; Jeff Powell, a two-time world champion; and Colleen Miller, a three-time world champion.

The club and Manitoba Rowing Association also jointly host the annual Head of the Red, which brings local and visiting crews to race on the Red River in downtown Winnipeg.