Hiram Boardman Conibear

Hiram Boardman Conibear
Conibear circa 1913
Born	September 5, 1871(1871-09-05) Mineral, Illinois
Died	September 9, 1917(1917-09-09) (aged 46) Seattle, Washington
Cause of death	Fall from tree
Known for	Conibear stroke
Spouse	Grace Eminent Miller (m. 1898–1917) «start: (1898)–end+1: (1918)»"Marriage: Grace Eminent Miller to Hiram Boardman Conibear" Location: (linkback://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_Boardman_Conibear)
Children	Catherine Amelia Conibear (1909-?)
Parents	Edward H. Conibear Amelia Boardman

Hiram Boardman Conibear (September 5, 1871 - September 9, 1917) was the rowing coach at the University of Washington in 1907. He coached both the men's and women's rowing team. He developed the distinctive style that became known as the Conibear stroke that "had an effect on the sport that lasted for 30 years".^[1][2]

Biography

He was born on September 5, 1871 in Mineral, Illinois to Edward H. Conibear and Amelia Boardman of England.

He later graduated from the University of Illinois.^[3]

Conibear began his coaching career in cycling. In 1906, working as athletics trainer at the University of Washington, he accepted the post of rowing crew coach even though he had no rowing experience and knew nothing about the sport.^[4]

Experiments convinced him that the traditional Oxford style of rowing, involving a long stroke, was both unsound and uncomfortable, and he developed the new, shorter style with which his name became associated.^[5]

Under his coaching the university crew became, in 1913, the first Western crew to compete by invitation in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association regatta in Poughkeepsie, New York, and Washington crew members went on to achieve success at subsequent regattas and at national and Olympic level using the technique developed by Conibear.^[4]

Conibear died from a fall from a plum tree at his home in Seattle, Washington on September 9, 1917 at age 46.^[6]

Legacy

• Conibear Rowing Club
• Conibear Shellhouse

See also

• History of rowing

References

1. ^ "Hiram Boardman Conibear". Encyclopedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/132679/Hiram-Boardman-Conibear. Retrieved 2009-07-31. 
2. ^ It is also called the Washington stroke and the American stroke
3. ^ The alumni record of the University of Illinois. University of Illinois. 1913. http://books.google.com/books?id=PDNOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA680&lpg=PA680&dq=%22Hiram+Boardman+Conibear%22&source=bl&ots=5PDhu560Tc&sig=WOKWqb-RRqokyZXnslDoV-o23fs&hl=en&ei=8CBzSvilM4nulAfrwM3vCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8#v=onepage&q=%22Hiram%20Boardman%20Conibear%22&f=false. "Coach of Athletics: b. Sept. 5, 1871, Mineral, 111.; s. Edward H. (b. Devonshire Co., Eng.) & Amelia (Boardman) Conibear (b. Yorkshire Co., do.) Prepared in Mendota and Dixon, ... Attended Chautauqua Sch. of Phys. Tr. for four years in New York. Asst. to A. A. Stagg in Ath. Dent., Univ. of Chicago, four years; Asst. Dir. of Ath., two years at Univ. of III.; Dir. of Ath. and Phys. Cult., Univ. of Montana, two years; Instr., Univ. of Chicago; Trained World's Championship Baseball Team White Sox, 1906; Coached six Pacific Coast Championship Crews for the last six years. Aquatic Dept. Seattle Playground System. Member Soc. for the Betterment Coll Spirit; Baptist Church, Trustee and Treas.; Master Mason. Married Grace Eminent Miller, Nov. 8, 1898, Dixon, 111. Child, Catherine Amelia, b. Dec. 12, 1909, Seattle, Wash. Address, 4129 Brooklyn Ave., Seattle, Wash." 
4. ^ ^{a b} Daves, Jim; W. Thomas Porter (2 December 2001). "Pacific Northwest Magazine". The Glory of Washington: The People and Events That Shaped the Husky Athletic Tradition. Sports Publishing. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20011202&slug=phusky02. Retrieved 2009-07-31. 
5. ^ "Sport: A Sweep for Conibear". Time magazine. 1 July 1946. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,803786,00.html. Retrieved 2009-07-31. "In 1917, Hiram Conibear was killed (when he fell out of a cherry [sic] tree) but Washington crews went east year after year to win fame at Poughkeepsie." 
6. ^ "Hiram Conibear, Rowing Coach" (PDF). New York Times. September 11, 1917. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9801E7DB133BEE3ABC4952DFBF66838C609EDE. Retrieved 2009-07-31. 

External links

• Hiram Boardman Conibear at Encyclopedia Britannica

Persondata
Name	Conibear, Hiram Boardman
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 5, 1871
Place of birth	Mineral, Illinois
Date of death	September 9, 1917
Place of death	Seattle, Washington