Regatta Committee Announces Five Hall of Fame Inductees - VOCM

The Royal St. John’s Regatta Committee has announced five new Hall of Fame Inductees.

They include the 1995 East Coast Marine Midget Crew, Rosalind (Ryan) Devereaux, Dr. Siobhan Duff, Rick Coish (cosh), and Paul Ring.

The 1995 record-breaking East Coast Marine male midget crew set the bar remarkably high for all young and up and coming rowers. The young men clocked a time of 5:00.79 that year in the “Presidents Choice” shell. This time still stands today and is one of the longest-standing records on the pond. The team was comprised of Geoff Clarke, Craig Crane, Trevor Hammond, Sandy Peddle, Jerry Power, Jerry Power Sr. (Coxswain), and John Walsh.

Rosalind Devereaux began rowing in 1980, when she assembled the first MUN Student Union Female Crew. This brand new crew placed 1st in the Ladies #1 race and 2nd in the Female Championship Race. In 1981, she began rowing for Ryan’s Construction, sponsored by her father. During the years 1981-1986, her crew qualified for every championship race. In 1983, the crew was one of the first female crews to implement year-round training. As Royal St. John’s Regatta committee representative, she served on the Participants’ Committee, which she had previously served on as a rower. She also served as a liaison with Rowing NL, improving relationships between the sports of fixed and sliding seat rowing.

Siobhan Duff began her rowing career in high school, with the 1983 Zellers Crew. The following year, she moved into the stroke position, where she remained for all but one of her subsequent races. Between 1983 and 2018, she rowed in 19 Royal St. John’s Regattas. The majority of these (14) were with the record-breaking Oz-FM crew, who won the Ladies Championship Race 10 times. While several members of the crew changed, she was a constant driving force for the ten wins. In 1994, Siobhan stroked the OZ-FM crew when they set a new course record of 4.59.52, finally breaking the 5-minute mark. Then, in 2003, she repeated the feat, setting a new course record of 4.56.7, which stood until the 200th Anniversary Regatta in 2018.

Patrick (Rick) Coish has been involved with the Royal St. John’s Regatta for almost 50 years and nearly 40 of them as one of the most respected coxswains and coaches on the pond. Rick has helped develop numerous crews and coxswains and has been a source of advice and guidance to many of them over the years. While known to all around the pond, Rick is best known as the coxswain for the Keyin Tech Women’s crew that won five championship races from 1995 – 2001 and four triple crowns during those years. Rick to the day still participates on race day and can be found around the pond still coaching and helping where needed.

Paul Ring comes from a long line of Rings that rowed in the Royal St. John’s Regatta since the 1800s. Paul attended the event with his family every year until 1955, when, at the age of 13, he became a rower. at 18, he had begun coxing and coaching, a position he maintained for 59 years. By the summer of 2021, Paul reached an incredible 67 years of straight involvement in the Regatta. Paul has coxed more than 190 teams in 220 races, including 17 Female and 12 Male championship races, with 60 wins. He often coxed multiple (4-5) crews in the Regatta. He has been awarded the Levi “Shotty” Rogers Trophy, coxswain with the most aggregate points, three times, 2005-2007.

The 2021 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be hosted by the City of St. John’s on Wednesday, November 17th at 12:00 p.m. at the St. John’s Convention Centre.

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Regatta Committee Announces Five Hall of Fame Inductees - VOCM
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