The Telegraph Journal and the Evening Times Globe August 23^rd, 1985

Rowers going for gold on the Kennebecasis River at Renforth this week are following a rich history of the sport in that area, a history that dates back to 1871.

It was August 23 of that year when the village, then called Chalet, hosted river race between a Saint John team and a squad from Tyne, England. The stroke of the foreign was 29-year-old James Renforth Gateshead, England. Renforth collapsed a half mile into the three mile course and died a short time later on shore. A coroner’s report revealed that he died from congested lungs that may have caused by over exertion in the boat race.

The race was a rematch of an earlier meeting between the two rivals at Lachine, Quebec. The crew of Renforth, James Percy, Robert Chambers and Harvey Kelly had won the initial contest. Elijah Ross, Samuel Hutton, George Price and Robert Fulton, the local rowers named the Paris Crew for a previous triumph in that city won the rematch, but the spirit of the victory was dampened by the death of a fellow oarsman.

The village adopted the name of the famed rower in 1903 at the request of area residents.

Renforth, now a community of approximately 1,500 people, has retained the rowing tradition. It now is the home of the Renforth rowing and canoe club, the venue for both canoeing and rowing in the Jeux Canada Games 1985.