Herbert C. Hammond was a well-respected Toronto banker in and was President of the Argonaut Rowing Club from 1890 to 1902.
In 1902, out of his love for rowing and in particular “crew racing,” Mr. Hammond presented a very special trophy to the Argonaut Club. This trophy became known as the “Hammond Cup”. The trophy winners were decided at an annual regatta hosted by the Argonaut Rowing Club. At the time the ARC had over 1000 members – most of them social members and prominent Torontonians.
The regatta was comprised of crews of four, each sponsored by a bank or other financial institution. The regatta was held in the inner harbour of Toronto and, long before the Raptors or Maple Leafs, many citizens would come out to watch this great sporting spectacle of the day. The winner of the grand race would take home the Hammond Cup as well as the coveted title of Cup winners until the race was rowed again the following year. While each crew member would be awarded a medal, historical records also suggest a significant cash prize (after all, the regatta was sponsored by banks…).
Unfortunately, the Hammond Cup regatta ceased to exist in the mid-late 1900s. In 2002 the Argonaut Rowing Club, through the work of long-time member and volunteer Susan Kitchen, resurrected the practice of awarding the Hammond Cup in the memory of Herbert C. Hammond. And while there will be medals for all crew members, unfortunately there are no banks lined up to finance the cash prizes…
However, unlike its previous conception, the ARC Hammond Cup will now be awarded to the Argonaut crew that, over the course of a season, exemplifies the spirit of good oarsmanship coupled with a competitive zeal and medal-winning prowess.
Rowing is one of those unique sports where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. You can make a connection to other people through the water, through a hull and share with others’ exhilaration or disappointment. Bing able to SHARE an exact experience at the same moment in time with another human being is very rare and yet as rowers we get to do that often when we are in a crew. To be awarded annually, the ARC Hammond Cup will highlight this feature of our sport.
The inaugural winners of the resurrected ARC Hammond Cup were the 2002 senior women’s eight, and those women and their coach will be the start of a long line of new Hammond Cup winners.
Compiled by Xavier Macia and Andrew Boggs (January 2000). Revised (October 2003) by George McCauley.
