Tricia Smith grew up in Vancouver in an athletic family, and first competed in swimming before taking up rowing at the age of 17. Tricia loved the sport from her first day on the water and though she had never even seen a rowing shell before, was a quick learner in mastering the unique challenges of the sport. In the process, she drew on her innate tenacity and emerging leadership qualities, achieving excellence not only for herself, but for everyone around her.

Between 1974 and 1982 Tricia dominated the National Rowing Championships, in whatever event her crew entered. Internationally, between 1976 and 1988 she claimed seven World Championship medals, as well as three Gold, five Silver and two Bronze medals at Switzerland’s prestigious Rotsee Regatta, and a Gold medal in coxed four at the Commonwealth Games in 1986. A four-time Olympian, she ascended the podium after winning a Silver medal in coxless pairs with her longtime partner Betty Craig at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. During her career she started the first athletes committee for Rowing Canada and was a member of the first COC athlete’s commission. Since retiring from competition in 1988, she has worked tirelessly to promote the values of sport and to advance opportunities for women and all athletes in Canada and around the world.

A graduate of University of British Columbia Law, while pursuing her professional career, Tricia Smith assumed a plethora of groundbreaking leadership roles with many different national and international sport organizations. She was the first Canadian elected to the International Rowing Federation, first chairing the Women’s Commission, then elected to the Executive Board. Since 2013 she has been Vice-President. She was also a sport arbitrator and then the first Canadian elected to the international Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. She also currently sits on the Executive Committees of Pan Am Sports and the Association of National Olympic Committees. Her several decades of exemplary volunteer work are inspired by her belief in the positive power of sport and the importance of ensuring those positive opportunities are available to all. Central to everything is integrity and respect, for the individual and for the process. That means everything from protection of clean athletes and safe sport, to inclusion, equity, collaboration, and good governance. In 2015 she became President of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) where she was instrumental in helping change the culture, allowing the COC to become a trusted partner and leader in the sport system in Canada and internationally. In 2016 she was elected a member of the International Olympic Committee where she sits on the Legal Affairs and Women’s Commissions. A member of the Vancouver 2010 International Bid team, she is currently the COC lead for the feasibility study regarding a possible 2030 Indigenous-led Olympic and Paralympic Games Bid for Canada. She is celebrated today as one of the most influential and inspiring women in Canadian sport.

Having done so much to change the game for athletes in Canada and around the world, Tricia Smith has been honoured with the Carol Anne Letheren International Sports Leadership Award in 2006, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Rowing Aviron Canada in 2017, Honorary Degrees from the University of BC and the University of Alberta, membership in the Order of Canada in 2010 and the Order of BC in 2011. Tricia’s inspiring commitment to integrity and respect in all her endeavours, and her belief in the unique power of sport and its importance for the individual and for the local and the global community are evident in all of her work for sport. There is nothing like sport to bring the world together. And, she says, we are just so much stronger when we work together, when we are there for each other; and then, of course, there is the fun.

Back to Member Index