Rower Dean Crawford of Victoria, who reached the pinnacle of the podium at Los Angeles in 1984 as Olympic gold medallist, died Dec. 6 at age 65. Cause of death was not given.
Crawford, a graduate of Spectrum Community School, Kevin Neufeld and Grant Main came out of coach Al Morrow’s powerhouse University of Victoria rowing program to help stroke Canada to Summer Games victory in the men’s eight on Lake Casitas near Los Angeles in 1984.
Crawford recalled dreaming about a gold medal while doing a school project in 1968 on the Mexico City Olympics.
“How could it be … a childhood dream come true?” Crawford, later said.
Island products Crawford and Main were completely new to rowing in their freshman year at UVic in 1978 when they stumbled across a rowing shell on display outside the Student Union Building on Club’s Day. They were athletic but not stars in high school sports yet decided to sign up, along with another UVic freshman, Neufeld, from St. Catharines, Ont.
What followed was absolute domination by the Vikes crews at the university level.
“Dean [Crawford] was all about sacrifice and the team and a big part of the blue collar approach we had in those days,” said former UVic coach Morrow, on Tuesday.
“He was one of our key, glue guys of the crew. Every boat he was in went faster.”
Ken Shields was UVic athletic director at the time and said Tuesday: “Those guys [Crawford, Main, Neufeld] came in together and were just model guys for UVic. They were not only great athletes but outstanding people on campus and beyond.”
The Vikes trio of Crawford, Main and the late Neufeld (who died of cancer in Victoria in 2022 at age 61) made the jump into the Canada eight and on to Olympic glory at Los Angeles with a gut-wrenching win at the wire over the silver-medallist Americans.
“I can’t explain it,” said Crawford, at the time.
“Something inside me just said: ‘Keep stroking, keep stroking, keep stroking.’ We would have spent a lifetime regretting it if we had listened to our bodies and let up. Something inside me kept pushing. My mind went blank near the end. I couldn’t think. There was no blood left in my brain. But something inside me made my arms pump.”
Crawford later became heavily involved in aquatics as an administrator and served as president of Swim B.C. for six years and was a fixture over several decades in many capacities at meets held at Saanich Commonwealth Place pool.
