How the death of a rower gave the Royal St. John's Regatta its first female trophy
Kim Stirling Memorial Trophy is one of the event's most hotly contested awards today
With races at Quidi Vidi Lake now dominated by female competitors, many spectators at today's 200th running of the Royal St. John's Regatta may find it inconceivable to learn of one element of local rowing history.
It wasn't until 1979 that women competitors even got a trophy.
The Kim Stirling Memorial Trophy will be presented today for the 40th time to the winning female crew by Joyce Stirling, in memory of her daughter.
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"She rowed for four years, from the time she was 15 to 19," Joyce Stirling told CBC's St. John's Morning Show.
"She would complain, 'It's not right, Mom, that there's a man's trophy but not a women's trophy.'"
She would complain, 'It's not right, Mom, that there's a man's trophy but not a women's trophy.'- Joyce Stirling
Kim Stirling was killed in a car accident in October 1977. Consumed by grief, Stirling came up with the idea the following year to commemorate her daughter and recognize the regatta's female competitors with their own trophy — a first.
"She loved Newfoundland and she loved rowing, so I thought, 'Well, this is a good time to introduce the idea of a ladies' championship trophy."
The Stirling family — which owns NTV, OZ-FM and the Newfoundland Herald — have a long history of supporting the regatta, from broadcasting it on radio and television to sponsoring rowing shells and crews that compete — often successfully — in the event.
'Feisty and strong-minded'
The regatta committee at the time approved of the proposal. The first presentation of the trophy was set for the regatta's 1979 edition.
Stirling gave the job of creating the trophy to artist Frank Warren who sculpted a pewter scale-model of a racing shell to sit atop a wooden plinth.
These days, with so much interest in the races by women competitors, it is one of the event's most hotly contested awards.
More than 40 years after her daughter's death, Joyce Stirling remembers Kim as "pretty feisty and strong-minded," but also kind and compassionate.
"She was definitely ahead of the curve, but she was somewhat of a feminist. She was well ahead of her time, there's no doubt about that," she said.
"Now 39 years later, there are predominantly women's teams instead of men's teams.… I think that speaks for itself."
Kim Stirling is buried in the Forest Road Anglican Cemetery just up the hill from Quidi Vidi Lake, where the regatta takes place every August. The rower's final resting place fitting overlooks the regatta's finish line.
She was definitely ahead of the curve, but she was somewhat of a feminist.- Joyce Stirling
Kim Stirling may have died at a young age, but her mother said she well knew where she wanted her final resting piece.
"This is what she wanted and this is what she got. I think it was divine intervention," her mother said.
"It's coincidental. It just happened to be that that was what was available in the cemetery at the time. And Geoff is buried right next to her."