1924

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS HUMBER BAY (2) NORTHERN DIVISION CHAMPIONS OTTAWA-NEW EDINBURGH (17) WESTERN DIVISION CHAMPIONS HUMBER BAY (3) TORONTO (8) EASTERN DIVISION CHAMPIONS GRAND TRUNK (13) DOMINION DAY CHAMPIONS HUMBER BAY (1)

Gananoque, ON; St. Lawrence River; Gananoque M&CC # Club Pts 1 HUMBER BAY (2) 13 2 OTTAWA-NEW EDINBURGH 11 3 RIDEAU 10 4 Parkdale 9 5 Toronto 7 6 Balmy Beach 6 7 Valois 5 8 Lachine 3 9 Island 2 Ottawa Citizen, Aug 5, 1924 Montreal Gazette, Aug 4, 1924 Ottawa Journal, Aug 4, 1924 Canadian Canoe Association

DIVISIONAL TITLE # Division Pts 1 Western (6) 37 2 Northern 22 3 Eastern 7

• the point system of 5/2/1 was not officially introduced until 1928.
• The exact year that Intermediate events counted towards the overall points aggregate is a little unclear, but it most certainly occurred before WWI. The table below shows the points with Senior only, Senior + Junior and then Senior + Junior + Intermediate. The latter is what was reported in the newspaper and is the case for all championships post-WWI.

This is the first time that previous "burgee" winners were printed in the Championship program. The problem is that this information has been perpetuated for years, believed to be true. Firstly, the first burgee "won" at the Dominion Championships was in 1927 and the statement that 1922 was the first year that points were scored is enough to cast doubt on the credibility of this list.

The Ottawa Journal's article on the 1925 championship indicates two contradicting statements (see article below): "new rulers have been crowned in the Canadian paddling realm" which implies that Rideau did not win in 1924, and "Rideaus' game, gallant crew won for the Capital its second consecutive paddling championship..." This implies that they did win in 1924 and could possibly have been an impetus for the 1924 error. Or, it could be a reference to the two paddling championships that season: the Divisional Trials (Northern Division Championship) and CCA (National Championship).

1. Is the author of the Citizen article waxing lyrical, or did Humber Bay actually physically raise their colours in celebration of winning the championship?

2. The Gazette states pretty clearly, "Humber Bay Took Total," and "the laurels for the club scoring the highest total went to the Humber Bay paddlers of Toronto."

3. There are three entries from the paper that conflict with "100 Years of Champions."
- Senior C1 third place is credited to Balmy Beach in the paper, but to Humber Bay in the book.
- Junior C4 third place is credited to Rideau in the paper, but to Valois in the book.
- Intermediate C1 first place is credited to Humber Bay in the paper but to Balmy Beach in the book.

Whether you use the newspapers or the "100 Years of Champions" credits (first table), it does not work out in Rideau's favour either way and Humber Bay still wins.

Even more strange is the fact that the paper credits J. Porter to Balmy Beach in the Junior event but to Humber Bay in the Intermediate event, even claiming that he switched jerseys for the second race! Porter's points are credited to the shirt he was wearing...

4. The above points totals are also put forward by Alan McCullough on the www.sailonec.com website.

5. The above totals (first table) match perfectly the results recorded by hand in the CCA AGM minutes book (see photo above). I consider this to be the most definitive proof since it is recorded by hand by Association officers.

6. The 1960 program is where the error seems to have arisen (possibly before hand in another publication). Someone, in an effort to throw a bit of history into the program, obtained the information but wrote it down incorrectly. Rideau was credited for 1924 instead of 1923 and Humber was credited for 1923 (mistakenly as Parkdale) instead of 1924. An innocent mistake, but 90 years later, here we are with a website dedicated to rectifying it ;)

1. 1924 would be the second and final championship for Humber Bay.

2. Rideau would not have won the championship in 1924, but actually did in 1923 (with more firsts than Toronto to break the tie). A slight change in years and no overall effect to their number of championships.

The most likely scenario is that when championships were written down, Humber Bay's 1924 and Rideau's 1923 wins were probably inadvertently swapped. At the same time, Humber Bay's win was accidentally credited to the neighbouring Parkdale Canoe Club which would have had a much higher profile at the time.