The Sportsman in 1860 said, “Edward Hanlan is the finest sculler the world has ever seen, his action is perfection, and his speed and bottom is beyond peradventure.” I looked it up. “Beyond peradventure” means without doubt. So, Hanlan had superb speed and bottom. He was world renowned, and that made him a Canadian hero, but it also made it increasingly tricky for him to earn much money by gambling on himself. Maybe this is why none of his later races were held in Canada. There was just no one in this country who was willing to bet against him.

In order to keep earning a living in the scull, Ned Hanlan had to start performing shows of skill. Trickster stuff like rowing in a straight line with only one oar. Which in itself tells you something about how popular rowing was. People paid good money to watch trick rowing, which you couldn’t even bet on.

Hanlan kept up an exhausting schedule, travelling the world to adoring crowds, racing local heroes. It wasn’t until 1884 that he finally met his match. An absolute haystack of a man named Bill Beach cleaned Hanlan’s clock in Australia, on the Paramatta River on August 16,1884. They say half of Sydney emptied out to watch the contest. Beach was faster, plain and simple. Hanlan cheated, rowed into Beach’s way, and fouled him. Beach recovered and still won the race. Just in case there was any doubt in the matter, according to Hanlan’s biographer Consentino, Hanlan demanded a rematch while Beach was still taking a post-victory shower. The story goes that Hanlan asked how soon a second race could happen. Beach is quoted with the cool response, “Just wait until I finish drying myself, and I am your man.” Which in fact he did, and he was. Beach got out of the shower and immediately raced and thrashed Hanlan again.

Never mind. Hanlan was the most famous rower in the world. Not that he was ever a stickler for honourable play, but the dregs of Hanlan’s career were marked by some dodgy business. He was a frequent no show on race days. Despite being an expert at steering, he often ‘accidentally’ rowed into his opponents’ path. He had a hundred excuses for every loss. He was by no means the only devious competitor in rowing, but the man had a flare for unsportsmanlike conduct. If we find that embarrassing now, in his time, Hanlan’s name and cocky reputation and magnificent moustache really did delight the crowds. He was a fan favourite to the very end. Famous all over the world. He was beyond A Superstar in his home country.

Hanlan rowed his last race in 1897. He died of pneumonia in 1908 at the age of 52, which was young even then. Ten thousand people walked by his coffin during the civic funeral in Toronto. Measured by the times in which he lived, he was — maybe still is — the Biggest Sports Star Canada ever produced.

(Large photos, in order from top to bottom: Williamson/National Archives of Canada; George Rees/National Archives of Canada; Williamson/National Archives of Canada; Ernsberger & Ray/Harper's Weekly; National Archives of Canada)