Harold Backer (born 20 November 1962 in Selkirk, Manitoba) is a Canadian former Olympic rower and financial advisor.
He participated in three Olympic Games for the Canadian rowing team: 1984 in Los Angeles, 1988 in Seoul and 1992 in Barcelona. [1]
After retirement as an Olympic athlete, he became a rowing coach. [2]
Backer established financial advisory firm Financial Backer Corp. [3] In 2015 he disappeared after allegedly setting up a pyramid scheme that ran into trouble. His disappearance caused a B.C. wide search at the time, and was covered in an episode of The Fifth Estate .
In April 2017 he turned himself in to the police. [2]
Percy Alfred Williams was a Canadian athlete, winner of the 100 and 200 metres races at the 1928 Summer Olympics and a former world record holder for the 100 metres sprint.
The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thunderbirds are the most successful athletic program both regionally in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association, and nationally in U Sports, winning 119 national titles. UBC has won an additional 21 national titles competing in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics against collegiate competition from the United States and 43 national titles in sports that compete in independent competitions.
World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation, is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who succeeded Denis Oswald at a ceremony held in Lucerne in July 2014.
Brentwood College School is a co-educational boarding school. Brentwood is located on Vancouver Island in Mill Bay, British Columbia, Canada.
Dean Crawford was a Canadian rower and sports administrator. He began rowing in 1978 and won a gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in the men's rowing eights event. He was also involved with sports as an administrator serving as the president of SwimBC, Swimming Canada, and Pacific Coast Swimming.
Kathleen Joan Heddle, was a Canadian Olympic rower. She and her long-time rowing partner Marnie McBean were the first Canadians to be awarded three Olympic gold medals at the Summer Games. They also won a silver in double sculls at the 1994 World Championships.
Lesley Allison Thompson-Willie is a Canadian rowing coxswain and Olympic champion. Between 1984 and 2016, she has competed at eight Olympic Games, a record for a rower, winning medals in five of them including gold in the eight at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
Michael A Spracklen, is a British rowing coach who has led teams from Great Britain, United States, Canada to success at the Olympic games and World Rowing Championships, including the early Olympic successes of Steve Redgrave. In 2002 he was named the International Rowing Federation coach of the year.
David C D Calder is a Canadian rower. A four-time Olympian, he is a 2008 Olympics silver medallist in the men's coxless pair rowing event along with Scott Frandsen.
Jane S. Thornton is a Canadian Sport Medicine Physician, Associate Professor, World Champion and Olympic rower, and international advocate for physical activity. She serves as the incoming Director of the Medical and Scientific Department for the International Olympic Committee, succeeding Dr. Richard Budgett as of his retirement in December 2024. Thornton is also President of the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine and holds the Canada Research Chair in Injury Prevention and Physical Activity for Health at the University of Western Ontario. She was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.
Janine Stephens is a former Canadian rower from Winnipeg on the Canadian National team. Stephens won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London as part of the women's eights rowing team. She also has two World Championship silver medals to her credit, also in the women's eights.
Stephen Patrick Trapmore is an English rowing coach and former rower who represented Great Britain at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He is currently the High Performance Coach within the Great Britain Olympic Rowing programme, developing athletes and crews to compete at World and Olympic competition.
Hamish Bryon Bond is a retired New Zealand rower and former road cyclist. He is a three-time Olympic gold medallist at the 2012 London Olympic Games, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, and at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. He won six consecutive World Rowing Championships gold medals in the coxless pair and set the current world best times in both the coxless and coxed pair. He made a successful transition from rowing to road cycling after the 2016 Summer Olympics, focussing on the road time trial and winning a medal at the Commonwealth Games. He returned to rowing for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, winning a gold medal in the men's eight. In 2024 he was a cyclor in the Team New Zealand team which successfully defended the America's cup.
Michael Francis Teti is an American Olympic rowing coach and former rower. Formerly the head coach of men's crew at the University of California, Berkeley, he is a twelve-time U.S. national team member, three-time Olympian, a member of the world champion men's eight in 1987, and is a member of the U.S. National Rowing Hall of Fame as both an athlete and coach. He has served as the US Men's head coach since June 2018.
Kimberley Jean "Kim" Brennan is an Australian retired rower. She is a sixteen-time national champion, two-time World Champion, three-time Olympian and Olympic gold medallist.
Maximilian Reinelt was a German rower and physician. He won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, as well as two World Championships and four European Championships. In 2016, he was awarded the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt, Germany's highest sports award.
The Burnaby Lake Rowing Club (BLRC) is a rowing club located at Burnaby Lake in the City of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
Alexander "Alex" Story is a British former rower, who rowed in the British men's eight at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Story has unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for the Conservative Party on several occasions.
The 1972 New Zealand eight was a team of Olympic gold medallists in rowing from New Zealand, having previously won the 1971 European Rowing Championships. At the time, the eight was regarded as the blue ribbon class of rowing, and the sport still had amateur-status in New Zealand, unlike many other nations competing in rowing. After a disappointing Olympic performance at the 1968 Summer Olympics by the New Zealand eight, national selectors Rusty Robertson, Don Rowlands, and Fred Strachan were tasked with assembling a new crew. Robertson was also the team's coach. The next time a New Zealand eight competed was at the 1970 World Rowing Championships, where they came third. The team was once again significantly changed for the next rowing season, with the 1971 edition of the European Rowing Championships and other international regattas beforehand seen as the ultimate test for the 1972 Summer Olympics. The team put up an impressive performance, beat the highly favoured East German eight, and became European champion; at the time the win was regarded as holding world championship status. No further changes were made to the team, not even their seating position, for the 1972 season. Despite a shoe-string budget, financial constraints, and all rowers working part-time, the 1971 success was repeated and the team won Olympic gold in Munich. The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Avery Brundage, was a zealous advocate of amateurism; he was so impressed by the New Zealand performance that he insisted on handing out the gold medals himself. During the medal ceremony, much to almost everybody's surprise, "God Defend New Zealand" was played instead of the national anthem, "God Save the Queen". It was the impetus for a campaign to make "God Defend New Zealand" the New Zealand anthem, and in 1977 it was gazetted as having equal status to the traditional anthem.
Jennifer Walinga is a retired rower who competed between the 1980s to 1990s. As a member of the national rowing team for Canada, Walinga placed 4th at the 1983 Junior World Championships in Vichy, France, 2nd at the 1984 U23 Sr B World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, and 5th at the 1985 World Rowing Championships in Hazewinkel, Belgium. In coxed four events, Walinga won gold at the 1986 Commonwealth Games and bronze at the 1986 World Rowing Championships. At the 1987 World Championships, the team placed 5th in Copenhagen, Denmark. She and her crew of Tricia Smith, Heather Clarke, and Jane Tregunno (Stamp) had a seventh place finish in the coxed four at the 1988 Summer Olympics.