Olympic Basin

The Olympic Basin, the legacy of the 1976 Olympics, is one of the jewels of the city.

With its 2000 meters of flat water and its beautiful view of downtown Montreal, the Basin is the envy of all the followers of rowing is one of the first facilities of its kind and the only one specifically designed for Rowing in North America.

Besides the Olympics, the Basin has hosted many world championships and other events including the 28th World Rowing Regatta masters of the FISA (2001), a real success of participation was awarded the Maurice Event year.

Here, you can learn more about the history of the Olympic basin.

Montreal Rowing Club history

The Montreal Rowing Club (MRC) was established in 1982, and officially founded in 1987. Our goal is to promote the sport of rowing in the greater Montreal area.

An overview of the history of the club (1976 - 2009)

1976 – July 18-25: The rowing events of the XXI Olympiad are held at Montreal's new Olympic Basin on Île Notre-Dame, part of the former Expo '67 site.

1976 – McGill University revives its intercollegiate rowing club (halted due to World War II), and obtains permission to use the Olympic Basin facilities.

1982 – The City of Montreal sets up the Club Nautique et Plein-Air de Montréal, offering Montrealers a range of sports on Île Notre-Dame, including rowing, wind surfing and kayaking.

1983 – Club member Stefan Blach wins men's single sculls event at the Canadian Rowing Championships (forerunner to the Canada Cup) held at Montreal's Olympic Basin.

1984 – The Olympic Basin is the site of the 1984 World Lightweight Rowing Championships. On this occasion women rowed 2k for the first time in international competition. Several Montreal crews represented Canada at this event.

1987 – Official founding of the Montreal Rowing Club. A constitution is drafted with Peter Jepson as the first President.

1990 – Karol Sauvé returns to Montreal from the National Team with the goals of promoting rowing and other sports at the Olympic Basin. Sauvé also aimed to prepare for the 1992 World Lightweight and Junior Championships. Lubomir Kisiov joins the coaching staff.

1990-92 – The Montreal men's eight wins the Canadian Championships in 1990 and 1991 and wins a silver medal in 1992. They compete internationally at Cannes, France, placing fifth. Richard Heller is MRC president from 1990-1994.

1992 – Montreal hosts the World Lightweight and Junior Championships. Lubomir Kisiov is head coach. Dusan Kovacevic is coach of the men's crews from 1992 - 1996.

1992 – Montreal Rowing Club members Henry Hering and Greg Stevenson represent Canada at the Barcelona summer Olympics.

1996 – TThe MRC men's eight is the strongest club boat in North America; Dusan Kovacevic is named “Canadian Coach of the Year”.

1996 – Among those representing Canada at the summer Olympics in Atlanta are MRC members Alison Korn and Tosha Tsang (silver medalists, women's eights), Henry Hering and Greg Stevenson (men's eight).

2000 – Montreal Rowing Club members represent Canada at the summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia: Alison Korn (bronze medalist, women's eight), Gen Meredith, Henry Hering and Greg Stevenson.

2001 – FISA World Rowing Masters Regatta, August 30 to Sept. 3 at the Olympic Basin. Gen Meredith (National Team) represents Canada in World events as member of women's lightweight double sculls crew (bronze medal, Munich).

2008 – Andreanne Morin, a member of CAM (eight female) represent Canada at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

2009 – Simon Gowdy national team rower and a member of MRC, won the most prestigious regatta in the fall, the "Head of the Charles Regatta" in Boston, with over 100 000 spectators attending each year.

2011 - Andréanne Morin is the stroke in the Women Canadian 8+ that finish first at the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland.