Province mourning the loss of Regatta rowing legend, Mike Power
There are some people who become part of a sport and there are those who become part of its history. Mike Power was both. He passed away this week following a courageous battle with cancer. He was 80.
For more than six decades, Power’s life was intertwined with the Royal St. John’s Regatta – a life measured not only in championships and records, but in the countless athletes he mentored, the championship crews he built, and the generations of rowers who learned from him.
Power first climbed into a racing shell in the mid-1950s. He was instantly hooked.
Born and raised in Outer Cove, where rowing is woven into the fabric of the community, Power, like so many athletes from town, understood what the sport meant. It was pride. It was tradition.
Even before he first pulled an oar in 1955, Outer Cove already had a legendary place in Regatta history.
In 1901, the Outer Cove Fishermen’s Crew set a record time of nine minutes and 13 seconds, a mark that would stand for 80 years. Some thought the record was unbreakable.
Then, in 1981, Smith Stockley finally broke it, crossing the finish line in a time of 9:12.04.
“It was like there was a death in the community,” Power told NTV’s Mark Dwyer in a 2024 interview. “That record was so much a part of who we were as a town, and we wanted it back.”
It was a time of celebration in St. John’s, and heartbreak in Outer Cove. Power, and the rest of the community, wanted the record back. In 1982, he, along with a legendary squad of athletes, helped build a crew that would do exactly that. On the first Wednesday of August, at the ’82 Regatta, Outer Cove delivered a new standard – 9:03. “What those guys did that day, I’ll never forget it,” Power said. “It was an incredible day.”
The community rejoiced with Power, always avoiding the spotlight, playing a huge role in that win.
But perhaps Power’s greatest achievement was never a number on a stopwatch, although he mastered it. It was the people, from the young rowers he taught to the crews he shaped and champions he created.
His Hall of Fame career is as rich as the sport itself. He would go on to play a role in building Crosbie Industrial into a championship crew, helping establish an incredible time of 8:57 in the morning race of the 2007 Regatta, part of the lineage that would eventually lead to today’s record of 8:51. They rowed that in the championship race that year – two records in one day.
Yes, records may be broken. Championships eventually belong to someone else. However, the lessons, the memories, the passion for the sport, that’s Power’s enduring legacy.
Many rowers took to social media Saturday to pay tribute to Mike Power. James Cadigan, a member of the current record-holders and a life-long friend, remembers him as a legend and a pillar in his community.
Premier Tony Wakeham also sent a message on behalf of government. “Regatta Day will no be the same without him, but his spirit will always be part of the tradition he helped shape,” he said,
When the oars strike the water at Quidi Vidi Lake, when a crew digs deep and races toward the finish line, a little piece of Mike Power will be there. He didn’t just row in the history of the Royal St. John’s Regatta, he helped write it.
Aside from the generations of rowers he inspired, Power leaves behind the love of his life, wife Valerie, his sons Scott and Jason, his grandchildren and numerous family and friends.
Editor’s Note: Photos courtesy of Michelle Hickey.
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