Competing out of the boating club in his hometown of St. Lambert, Quebec, Harry Poulton was winning regional canoeing doubles championships alongside partner Eddie McGregor by the age of 18. McGregor and Poulton saw success in the late 1930s, but eventually the latter left the St. Lambert Boating Club for the Excel Boating Club of Longueuil, Quebec and the two parted ways. Poulton managed to find luck in singles events in the early 1940s, including winning at the junior level during the 1941 Eastern Canada Championships. At Excel he teamed up with Douglas Bennett and together they were a favorite to win the tandem competition at the 1948 Canadian Olympic trials, as the duo had dominated the event for over a year. Living up to the expectations, they were chosen to represent their country at that year’s summer Olympics in the Canadian Doubles, 1,000m event, where they were edged out of a medal by the French team by only 5.5 seconds. Over the course of his career Poulton won three Eastern Canada divisional championships at the senior level and just as many national crowns. He was one of the four inaugural members of the St. Lambert Sports Hall of Fame and was inducted in 1982, a year after his death. Outside of canoeing he played senior-level amateur hockey with the Sydney Millionaires.
Canada