Colin FINLAYSON

Australian-born Colin Finlayson moved to Canada in 1905 and eventually took up rowing at the Vancouver Rowing Club. In 1922 he joined a coxless fours squad that was undefeated for almost two years and set a world record in the event at the Canadian trials for the 1924 Summer Olympics. At the Games the crew, consisting of Finlayson, Archie Black, George MacKay, and Bill Wood, won a silver medal after finishing behind the team from Great Britain. Finlayson’s medal is sometimes credited to Alphonse Mariacher, who often rowed with the VRC’s coxless fours squad, but Mariacher did not compete in Paris. Finlayson was an engineer and worked most of his life for BC International Engineering. He moved to Kemano, British Columbia in 1951 and established the local chapter of the Boy Scouts, which he ran until his death in March 1955. He was inducted into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame in 1977 with his silver medal-winning crew.