Dick McClure

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameRichard Neil "Dick"•McClure
Used nameDick•McClure
Born20 January 1935 in Comox, British Columbia (CAN)
AffiliationsUBC Thunderbirds, Vancouver (CAN)
NOC Canada
Medals OG
Gold 0
Silver 1
Bronze 0
Total 1

Biography

Dick McClure was an engineering student at the University of British Columbia when he helped David Helliwell, Philip Kueber, Douglas McDonald, Bill McKerlich, Carlton Ogawa, Donald Pretty, Lawrence West, and Robert Wilson win a silver medal in the coxed eights at the 1956 Summer Olympics. His only other major international tournament was the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, where he earned silver in the coxless fours alongside the non-Olympians John Madden, Glen Smith, and Malcolm Turnbull. He graduated from UBC in 1959 and took up a career as a professional engineer, but his involvement in rowing was far from over. In 1977 he joined the Burnaby Lake Rowing Club as a volunteer coach and, since then, has helped numerous athletes capture medals on the international scene, including Olympians Kathleen Heddle, Tricia Smith, and many others. In addition to his work as a club-level coach and sports administrator, he has also served as coach of the national team, most notably at the 1983 World Championships and the 1984 and 1996 Summer Olympics. He has been inducted into the Canadian Olympic (1958), British Columbia Sports (1976), and University of British Columbia Sports (2010) Halls of Fame as a member of his silver medal-winning crew and the BC (1999), UBC (2002), and Burnaby (2003) Sports Halls of Fame as an individual. A rowing scholarship at Simon Fraser University is named in his honor.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1956 Summer Olympics Rowing CAN Dick McClure
Eights, Men (Olympic) Canada 2 Silver

Special Notes