David C D Calder (born May 21, 1978) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

. A four-time Olympian, he is a

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

list in the men's coxless pair rowing event along with Scott Frandsen.

Biography

Born in

Brandon, Manitoba Brandon () is the second-largest city in the province of Manitoba, Canada. It is located in the southwestern corner of the province on the banks of the Assiniboine River, approximately west of the provincial capital, Winnipeg, and east of the ...

, he attended

Brentwood College School Brentwood College School is a Mixed-sex education, co-educational boarding school.Thomson, Ashley and Sylvie Lafortune.'' Handbook of Canadian Boarding Schools''. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1999. Brentwood is located on Vancouver Island in Mill Bay, ...

Mill Bay, British Columbia Mill Bay is a commuter town of about 7,200 people located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from th ...

. He participated in three consecutive

World Rowing Junior Championships The World Rowing U19 Championships, former name World Rowing Junior Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). A rower or coxswain shall be classified as a Junior until 31 Decemb ...

, winning bronze at the 1994 men's four event, and winning gold at the 1996 men's pair event. He set the

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

2000 metre ergometer record at the Junior A (Under-19) level with a time of 5:59.9 in 1996, and graduated from Brentwood the same year. He made his Olympics debut at the

2000 Sydney games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, finishing seventh in the men's eight finals. He was part of the crew that won gold in the men’s 8+ event at the

2003 World Rowing Championships The 2003 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 25 August to 1 September 2003 on the lake Idroscalo at Milan, Italy. The international rowing season usually ends with the World Championship regatta. Apart ...

. He then rowed with Chris Jarvis in the men's coxless pair event at the 2004 Athens games, but they were disqualified in the semi-final for departing from their lane in the final metres of the race. The pair appealed the decision to no avail, and did not race in the finals. Coached by Terry Paul, he won the

in the men's coxless pair event at the 2008 Beijing games along with Scott Frandsen. They were the first Canadians to win a

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be in ...

at those games. He made his final Olympic appearance at the 2012 London games, finishing sixth in the men's coxless pair event alongside Frandsen. In between Olympics, Calder worked as a community relations adviser for the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas. He then went on to manage the

St. Michaels University School St. Michaels University School (abbreviated SMUS) is an independent day and boarding school in the municipality of Saanich, the largest and most populous municipality in the Capital Regional District and on Vancouver Island. Previous headmasters i ...

Community Rowing Centre, as well as the Gorge Narrows Rowing Club. He joined the board of directors of Rowing British Columbia in 2016, before becoming the organization's executive director in November 2017. He was inducted into the

Greater Victoria Greater Victoria (also known as the Greater Victoria Region) is located in British Columbia, Canada, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. It is usually defined as the thirteen municipalities of the Capital Regional District (CRD) on V ...

Sports Hall of Fame in 2018. During the 2013 provincial election, Calder campaigned for

British Columbia New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) is a social democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum and is one of the two major parties in British Columbia; since ...

candidate

Lana Popham Lana Popham is a Canadian politician representing the riding of Saanich South in the Legislature of British Columbia. As a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP), she has served in the Executive Council since 2017, curre ...

, the incumbent

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

for the riding of

Saanich South Saanich South is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was created by 1990 legislation dividing the previous two-member district of Saanich and the Islands which came into effect for the 1 ...

. He then briefly served on her constituency association's executive before joining the

British Columbia Liberal Party BC United (BCU), known from 1903 until 2023 as the British Columbia Liberal Party or BC Liberals, is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party has been described as conservative, neoliberal, and occupying a centre-right ...

in November 2016. He contested the Saanich South seat in the 2017 provincial election as a Liberal candidate, finishing second to Popham.

Electoral record

References

External links

Official website of David Calder

David Calder on YouTube
Profile
at Rowing Canada
World Rowing Federation Athlete Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calder, David Canadian male rowers Olympic rowers for Canada Sportspeople from Brandon, Manitoba Rowers from Victoria, British Columbia Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Canada Living people 1978 births Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics BC United candidates in British Columbia provincial elections Canadian sportsperson-politicians World Rowing Championships medalists for Canada