Daryl Sturdy (front) and Bob Stubbs, who has lived in Osoyoos for the past 13 years, represented Canada in the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City in the men’s pairs rowing competition. While they have remained good friends, they had not rowed together since competing in Mexico 47 years ago until hitting the water on Osoyoos Lake last week. (Keith Lacey photo)
Two former Canadian Olympians who proudly represented our country at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City returned to the water as a team for the first time in 47 years last week on Osoyoos Lake.
Bob Stubbs, 76, who has lived in Osoyoos since coming here to retire with his wife Iris 13 years ago, and his longtime friend and former Olympic teammate Daryl Sturdy had not been on the same boat together since competing in the Mexico Olympics almost 50 years ago.
“We’ve remained in touch and friends since competing in Mexico … but this is our first time back on a boat together since we competed in the 1968 Olympics,” said Stubbs. “Ironically, we’re using the very same boat that we purchased in Mexico to compete in those Olympics Games.”
As a funny aside, these two good friends often refer to each other as “Mutt and Jeff” as Sturdy is six-foot-six, while Stubbs is around six-feet tall.
Sturdy, 75, had already represented Canada in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, but teamed up with Stubbs back in 1967 and they trained and competed at numerous major competitions before qualifying for the 1968 Olympics.
Competing against the world’s best in Mexico, the Canadian tandem finished in last place among the 13 two-man crews in Mexico, but they still have very fond memories of representing their country on the world’s largest athletic stage.
“Any time you get to represent your country in international competition against the very best competitors in the world, it’s a real honour and something you don’t’ ever forget,” said Sturdy.
Stubbs agreed.
“We got to represent our country in the Olympics and the world championships and obviously it’s something you’re very proud of because it takes an awful lot of hard work,” he said.
Stubbs and Sturdy met while attending the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
Stubbs, who was born and raised in England but moved to Canada at age 16 back in 1955, had never had any interest in rowing until he attended UBC and quickly became aware that the rowing team at that school was one of the very best in the world.
“I had never seen a rowing shell until I went to UBC,” he said.
Neither had Sturdy.
But they were both athletic and wanted to continue their athletic pursuits and decided to try out for the varsity rowing team.
Stubbs joined the junior varsity team at UBC in 1958 and Sturdy joined two years later.
Sturdy competed in his first World Rowing Championships in 1962 in Lucerne, Switzerland. He was a member of the men’s eight team that finished ninth in the world.
They were both members of the 1963 Canadian men’s eight team that captured the gold medal by winning the final race by more than 16 seconds at the 1963 Pan American Games in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
Sturdy was a member of the men’s eight team that finished ninth in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Stubbs was injured and did not make the team.
Sturdy and Stubbs were members of different men’s four teams that competed in the 1966 World Rowing Championships in Yugoslavia.
Sturdy was a member of the coxless pair team that won a silver medal in the 1967 Pan American Games. Stubbs was a member of the coxed pair team that finished fifth in those same games.
To qualify for Mexico, Stubbs and Sturdy had to pack up their boat and gear and drive across Canada to compete in the Royal Henley Regatta in St. Catharines, Ont. The long trip was worthwhile as they claimed the national championship and were named members of Team Canada shortly thereafter.
Beating a team from UBC was almost as exciting as competing in the Olympics, said Sturdy.
After graduating from university, Stubbs and Sturdy were the founding members of the Burnaby Lake Rowing Club back in 1966.
“We were a little club with no money, no equipment and very few members, but we ended up battling and beating the teams from UBC … which was amazing because UBC had produced several world championship medals for many years,” said Stubbs.
One of their teammates was Roger Jackson, who along with partner George Hungerford, won the men’s pair gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and is to this day considered one of Canada’s greatest ever rowers, said Stubbs.
During their reunion last week in Osoyoos, Sturdy and Stubbs used a boat called The Stubby that Stubbs purchased back in 1967.
“I bought it in the fall of 1967,” he said. “That’s the boat we trained on for a full year before competing in Mexico.”
He eventually sold the boat to a community college rowing team on Vancouver Island. It ended up at the Nicomekl Rowing Club in White Rock, where Stubbs lived until moving to Osoyoos in 2002.
Some friends at that club informed him they were going to retire the boat, but offered to give it to him for free and he’s owned it ever since, said Stubbs.
After competing in Mexico, Stubbs met his wife and worked as an engineer while living in and around the Lower Mainland for more than 30 years.
Sturdy became a teacher and worked for more than 30 years in the Vancouver area.
“I rowed a little bit after Mexico, but I had spent eight years training and competing at a very high level and really needed a break,” he said. “Being an elite athlete really didn’t fit my lifestyle after I became a teacher and I sort of drifted away from the sport and never got back into it.”
Stubbs also never rowed competitively again, but was a member of the Osoyoos Dragonboat team for several years.
Stubbs and Sturdy kept in “semi regular contact” over the past 45 years and talked on the phone, made occasional visits and sent Christmas cards every year since their glory days in Mexico.
A couple of weeks ago, Sturdy informed Stubbs he was making a trip to southern B.C. and would like to stop in to see him and his wife.
When he arrived last Monday, Stubbs’ wife thought it would be a great idea to get out on The Stubby for the first time in almost 50 years. They had a brief test run Tuesday morning to make sure it was seaworthy and then went out for a nice hour-long paddle Wednesday morning.
“I had to make sure the boat was still in decent shape and had to clean it off and put it all together,” said Stubbs.
They both loved the reunion on the water.
“It was great to be back on the water with Bob,” said Sturdy. “Bob was always the one to call out the stroke rate and it was good to hear his voice in a boat again.”
Stubbs agreed.
“It was good to get out again,” he said. “Sometimes I have to be pushed and it was actually my wife who insisted we get out there again. It’s really hard to believe this was our first time out on a boat together since Mexico in 1968.”
Sturdy returned to Vancouver after his memorable visit with Stubbs, but they plan on continuing their friendship and won’t rule out another excursion to the water in the future.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
