Ned Pratt

Ned Pratt drew attention on the Canadian rowing scene in the early 1930s and was selected, alongside Noël de Mille, to represent his country in the double sculls at the 1932 Summer Games after winning the Olympic trials. In doing so they defeated Bob Richards, a gold medalist in the event at the 1930 British Empire Games, and Theo Dubois, whose rowing prowess would earn him the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s top athlete in 1941.

At the Games, Pratt and de Mille won their heat over the Italians by a margin of eight seconds, but their times did not match those of the stronger American and German teams and, in the final, the Canadians settled for a bronze medal. Pratt was elected captain of his Vancouver Rowing Club the following year and continued to compete for the University of British Columbia until his graduation.

He retired from his athletic career after the 1930s and began working as an architect, gaining attention for his works in the 1950s, particularly for his design of the British Columbia Electric Building. He had a considerable influence on the architecture of Vancouver during this era and remained active until his death in a traffic accident in February 1996. He and de Mille were inducted into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame in 1980.