Howie McPhee

Once described as the “fastest rugby player in the world” Howie McPhee was a promising young athlete who excelled on both the rugby pitch and the sprint track. McPhee was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia in 1916 before moving with his family to Vancouver when he was less than a year old. He later studied at the University of British Columbia where he became an excellent sportsman. On the track he held the Canadian records for both the 100 and 220 yards, running the former in 9.6 seconds at an Olympic trial for the 1936 Berlin Games.

McPhee ran in both the 100 and 200 metres at the Berlin Olympics where he reached the semi-finals in each race. He also made the final of the 4 × 100 metres relay where the team finished fifth. After the Olympics he continued to play rugby for the UBC Thunderbirds, which saw him score a 102-yard try and finish as the leading points scorer for the team in the 1937-38 season. That same season he also competed at the Western Canada Intercollegiate meet in Saskatoon where he finished first in the 100 yards and the long jump.

In 1940 McPhee graduated from UBC and took up a teaching position at Grand Forks High School in British Columbia. Tragically, however, only a few months later news broke that he was very ill. He died at the end of November 1940 from what was believed to have been a brain aneurysm. He was 24.

Personal Bests: 100 – 10.3 (1936); 200 – 21.5 (1936).