Michael Forgeron began rowing in the late 1980s while attending the University of Western Ontario. He joined the Canadian national team in 1991 and attended that year’s edition of the Pan American Games, where he won silver in the coxless pairs with the non-Olympian Steve Frish and bronze in the men’s eights. He was then selected to represent his nation at the 1992 Summer Olympics in the eights but, unlike the other members of the team (Darren Barber, Andy Crosby, Robert Marland, Terry Paul, Derek Porter, Michael Rascher, Bruce Robertson, and John Wallace), Forgeron had not won silver at the past two editions of the World Championships. Nonetheless he helped the squad not only take gold at the Games, but set an Olympic record that would last until 2004.
Afterwards, Forgeron left the eights but continued to row for Canada internationally. He competed in the coxless fours at the 1993 and 1994 World Championships, finishing fourth with Phil Graham, Greg Stevenson, and the non-Olympian Bradshaw Crombie, and seventh alongside Crombie, Adam Parfitt, and the non-Olympian Shawn Walsh respectively. The latter quartet was more successful at the 1994 Commonwealth Regatta, where they won a gold medal. Forgeron then switched disciplines a final time, to the double sculls, finishing eighth at the 1995 World Championships and seventh at the 1996 Summer Olympics with Todd Hallett. He retired following these Games and took up a career in sales. He has been inducted into the Canadian Olympic (1994), the Canadian Amateur Sport (1994), and Nova Scotia (2010) Halls of Fame.
Canada