Background
He was born on September 5, 1871 in Mineral, Illinois to Edward H. Conibear and Amelia Boardman of England.
He 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.
He coached both the men"s and women"s rowing team He developed the distinctive style that became known as the Conibear stroke that "had an effect on the sport that lasted for 30 years". 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.
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. Conibear died from a fall from a plum tree at his home in Seattle, Washington, on September 9, 1917 at age 46.
Conibear Rowing Club
Conibear Shellhouse.