Ned Hanlan

Edward Ned Hanlan was a professional sculler, hotelier, and alderman from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Hanlan was born to Irish parents one of two sons and two daughters. His mother was Mary Gibbs, his father, John, was first a fisherman and later a hotel keeper on the Toronto Islands. The Hanlan family originally lived at the east end of Toronto Island, but a severe storm in 1865 pushed their house into the harbour. It washed ashore near the north end of Gibraltar Point, at the islands west end. A few years later, Hanlans father built a small hotel there, and the area started becoming known as Hanlans Point, long before Hanlan became famous. Young Hanlan used to row several kilometres across the harbour to go to and from George Street public school, Toronto every day. He developed speed and strength by rowing his boat with freshlycaught fish to sell at market before other fishermen arrived to compete. By the time Hanlan was a teenager, he was competing in rowing events and he gained his first important success at the age of eighteen, when he became amateur champion of Toronto Bay.

Source: Wikipedia