History and Legacy

Kenora Rowing Club has been “Pulling Together” since 1890. The club originated as the “Rat Portage Rowing Club” located on Lake of the Woods, downtown on Main Street. The club then moved to Norman Park on Lake of the Woods, before finding its new current location on Rabbit Lake in the 1990s. Through funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation and extensive fundraising and volunteer efforts, in 1999, a new boathouse was erected next to the beach at Garrow Park.

The Kenora Rowing Club has since become an internationally recognized rowing venue and has seen extensive infrastructure upgrades in the past 25 years; the club is deemed the mid-Canada Rowing Centre of Excellence. Notably, Kenora Rowing Club hosted the 2017 Canada Summer Games, seeing athletes from across the country race the 2000m 7-lane rowing course. The Kenora Rowing Club is the proud host of the North West International Rowing Association’s annual Championship Regatta, which will be hosting its 120th annual regatta in 2025. This regatta sees over 400 athletes and race officials from across North America come to Kenora to compete for the Lipton Cup.

Kenora Rowing Club is a small but mighty club. We would not function without dedicated volunteer members providing coaching, maintenance, administrative, fundraising, and event planning efforts. We are “the little club that can” and would not do it if it wasn’t for our love of the magical sport and community that is Kenora Rowing Club.