History
Grand Rapids has a long history with the sport of rowing. The Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club (originally called the Owashtanong Club) was organized in 1886 by John Homiller, a furniture manufacturer. The club hosted regattas for decades on the Grand River, the longest in Michigan at 252 miles.​​
​The Grand Rapids High School Invitational Regatta (GRI) was conceived more than 100 years later in 1995 by Don LeBlanc and premiered in 1996 at Riverside Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a.k.a. Furniture City, USA.
LeBlanc was Forest Hills Central’s first crew coach and was instrumental in growing the sport of rowing in West Michigan. GRI offered West Michigan high school crews a local race while providing a destination for well-established programs from the east side of Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to compete.​
​​This regatta was noted in Arshay Cooper’s book, A Most Beautiful Thing: The Story of America’s First All-Black High School Rowing Team, as the 1999 venue for his burgeoning crew’s goal to prove themselves on the water. This inspiring story was released as a documentary by the same name in 2020. ​
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In 2004, the Don LeBlanc Men’s Trophy and the Claudia LeBlanc Women’s Trophy memorializing GRI’s respective men’s and women’s team points champions. In 2023, the GRI Race Committee dedicated the Director’s Trophy, commemorating GRI’s overall combined team points champion.
Strong Midwestern Competition
Since its inception, more than 30 different crew programs have competed at this regatta, traveling from across the Midwest.
Previous Regatta Details
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