Hiram Conibear

American football and rowing coach

Hiram Boardman Conibear

Conibear circa 1911

Born| (1871-09-05)September 5, 1871

Mineral, Illinois, U.S.

Died| September 9, 1917(1917-09-09) (aged 46)

Seattle, Washington, U.S.

Known for| Conibear stroke
Spouse|

Grace Eminent Miller

(m. 1898⁠-⁠1917)​

Children| 1

Hiram Boardman Conibear (September 5, 1871 – September 9, 1917) was an American football and rowing coach. He served as head football coach for the University of Montana from 1903 to 1904, compiling a record of 5–7. Conibear was head rowing coach at the University of Washington from 1907 to 1917, coaching both the men's and women's rowing teams. He developed the distinctive style that became known as the Conibear stroke that "had an effect on the sport that lasted for 30 years".[1][2][3]

## Biography

[edit]

Conibear was born on September 5, 1871, in Mineral, Illinois to Edward H. Conibear and Amelia Boardman of England. He later graduated from the University of Illinois.[4]

Conibear began his coaching career in cycling. In 1906, working as athletics trainer at the University of Washington, he accepted the post of rowing crew coach even though he had no rowing experience and knew nothing about the sport.[5]

Experiments convinced him that the traditional Oxford style of rowing, involving a long stroke, was both unsound and uncomfortable, and he developed the new, shorter style with which his name became associated.[6]

Under his coaching the university crew became, in 1913, the first Western crew to compete by invitation in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association regatta in Poughkeepsie, New York, and Washington crew members went on to achieve success at subsequent regattas and at national and Olympic level using the technique developed by Conibear.[5]

Conibear died from a fall from a plum tree at his home in Seattle, Washington, on September 9, 1917, at age 46.[1]

## Legacy

[edit]

* Conibear Rowing Club
* Conibear Shellhouse

## Head coaching record

[edit]

### Football

[edit]

Year  | Team  | Overall  | Conference | Standing  | Bowl/playoffs

|
|
|
|
|

Montana (Independent) (1903–1904)
1903 | Montana | 2–5 |  |  |
1904 | Montana | 3–2 |  |  |
Montana: | 5–7 |  |
Total: | 5–7 |

## See also

[edit]

* History of rowing

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Hiram Conibear, Rowing Coach" (PDF). The New York Times. September 11, 1917. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
2. ^ "Hiram Boardman Conibear". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
3. ^ It is also called the Washington stroke and the American stroke
4. ^ James Herbert Kelley (1913). The alumni record of the University of Illinois. University of Illinois. p. 680.
5. ^ a b Daves, Jim; W. Thomas Porter (December 2, 2001). "Pacific Northwest Magazine". The Glory of Washington: The People and Events That Shaped the Husky Athletic Tradition. Sports Publishing. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
6. ^ "Sport: A Sweep for Conibear". Time magazine. July 1, 1946. Archived from the original on April 17, 2008. Retrieved July 31, 2009.

* v
* t
* e

Montana Grizzlies head football coaches

* Fred D. Smith (1897)
* Benjamin F. Searight (1898)
* Guy Cleveland (1899)
* Frank Bean (1900–1901)
* Dewitt Peck (1902)
* Hiram Conibear (1903–1904)
* Frederick Schule (1905–1906)
* Albion Findlay (1907)
* Roy White (1908–1909)
* Robert H. Cary (1910–1911)
* Wallace Philoon (1912)
* A. George Heilman (1913–1914)
* Jerry Nissen (1915–1917)
* No team (1918)
* Bernie Bierman (1919–1921)
* John W. Stewart (1922–1923)
* Earl Clark (1924–1925)
* Frank W. Milburn (1926–1930)
* Bunny Oakes (1931–1934)
* Doug Fessenden (1935–1941)
* Clyde Carpenter (1942)
* No team (1943–1944)
* George Dahlberg (1945)
* Doug Fessenden (1946–1948)
* Ted Shipkey (1949–1951)
* Ed Chinske (1952–1954)
* Jerry Williams (1955–1957)
* Ray Jenkins (1958–1963)
* Hugh Davidson (1964–1966)
* Jack Swarthout (1967–1975)
* Gene Carlson (1976–1979)
* Larry Donovan (1980–1985)
* Don Read (1986–1995)
* Mick Dennehy (1996–1999)
* Joe Glenn (2000–2002)
* Bobby Hauck (2003–2009)
* Robin Pflugrad (2010–2011)
* Mick Delaney (2012–2014)
* Bob Stitt (2015–2017)
* Bobby Hauck (2018– )

* v
* t
* e

Washington Huskies men's rowing head coaches

* James Knight (1903–1906)
* Hiram Conibear (1907–1917)
* Ed Leader (1917–1922)
* Rusty Callow (1922–1927)
* Al Ulbrickson Sr. (1927–1958)
* Matt Leanderson (1959–1967)
* Dick Erickson (1968–1987)
* Bob Ernst (1987–2007)
* Michael Callahan (2007– )

* v
* t
* e

Washington Huskies track and field head coaches

Men's|

* Charles W. VanderVeer (1900–1902)
* James Knight (1903–1904)
* Ben Roller (1905)
* Winnie Cutter (1906)
* Hiram Conibear (1907–1908)
* David Hall (1909–1910)
* Maybury (1911)
* David Hall (1912–1914)
* Lawrence J. Martin (1915)
* Charles W. VanderVeer (1916–1918)
* Hec Edmundson (1919–1954)
* Stan Hiserman (1955–1968)
* Ken Shannon (1969–1997)
* Orin Richburg (1998–2002)
* Greg Metcalf (2003–2018)
* Andy Powell (2019– )

Women's|

* Rusty Llewellyn (1975)
* Alan Bonney (1976–1984)
* Clyde Duncan (1985)
* Orin Richburg (1986–2002)
* Greg Metcalf (2003–2018)
* Maurica Powell (2019– )

* v
* t
* e

1905 Chicago Maroons football—national champions

* Art Badenoch
* Hugo Bezdek
* William Boone
* Mark Catlin Sr.
* Leo DeTray
* Walter Eckersall
* Jesse Harper
* Lester Larson
* Hal Mefford
* Merrill C. Meigs
* Ed Parry
* Clarence W. Russell
* Lewis D. Scherer
* Mysterious Walker

* Head coach: Amos Alonzo Stagg

* Assistant coach: Frederick A. Speik
* Trainer: Hiram Conibear

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* United States

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