Geoffrey Taylor was an accomplished sportsman who competed in football, rugby, and rowing. It was in the latter sport that he achieved the most success and attended two editions of the Summer Olympics. In 1908 he won a bronze medal in the coxed eights, alongside Gordon Balfour, Becher Gale, Douglas Kertland, Walter Lewis, Charles Riddy, Irvine Robertson, Julius Thomson, and Joe Wright, Sr., after being defeated in the semifinals by the eventual gold medal-winning Leander crew from Great Britain. He was also eliminated in the opening round of the coxless fours event but, for historical purposes, he is considered a bronze medalist, as there were only four teams in the event. In 1912 he competed only in the coxed eights, and was again defeated by the Leander crew (who would go on to win the event) and eliminated from the tournament.
Taylor attended the University of Toronto from 1910 through 1913, earning a degree in applied science and serving as the school’s athletic director in his final year. He came close to obtaining a Rhodes Scholarship in 1912 and eventually attended Trinity College at Oxford University. When World War I broke out, he joined the 15th battalion of the Canadian Infantry and served overseas, where he fought in the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915. He went missing during the battle and is presumed to have perished from gas poisoning. According to one obituary, “[h]e was last seen making his way to a deserted farm house a short distance back from the trenches. “ He is memorialized at the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing.
Canada