Legendary American rower and coach Conn Findlay passed away yesterday afternoon at the age of 90. Findlay won two Olympic gold medals in the coxed pair in 1956 and 1964, and won a bronze in the same event in 1960.
Below are a series of features on Conn Findlay we shared on row2k back in 2010 as excerpts from Peter Mallory's "The Sport of Rowing":
Conn had a formidable career in more than just rowing, as his citation for the Stanford University Hall of Fame indicates:
Conn Francis Findlay (born April 24, 1930 in Stockton, California) is a former coach of the Stanford crews and is a four-time Olympic medalist, and is one of the few to medal in two distinct sports.
Conn Findlay medaled three times in coxed pair rowing, taking gold twice in 1956 (with Stanford rowers Dan Ayrault and Kurt Seiffert) and 1964, and winning the bronze in 1960. He also took bronze in sailing, crewing for Dennis Conner in the Tempest two-man keelboat class in the 1976 Games. In the 1962 World Championships, he took fifth in the coxed pair, and a year later achieved gold in the same event at the 1963 Pan American Games. Findlay was also part of the winning America's Cup sailing crews in 1974 and 1977.
In his college years, Findlay rowed for the University of Southern California, and later headed the Stanford rowing program for several years. He was inducted into Stanford University's Hall of Fame in 2005. Findlay is responsible for the building of the original Stanford boathouse, and photos of him on the Olympic podium grace the walls of Stanford's Morrison's Boathouse.
Findlay was named USRowing's Man of the Year in 2007.
row2k joins the rowing world in extending condolences to Conn's family, friends and former teammates. We will post more information as it becomes available.