We are sorry to report the death of George Hunter at the age of 97. George was
president of SABC from 1982 until 2017.

George, along with the late Ken Scott, was one of the small group who got St
Andrew back onto the water in the 1950s. George and Ken had been involved in
coastal rowing with the old Eastern club at Portobello, but wanted to row all year
round and take part in inland regattas.

When George arrived, St Andrew Boat Club existed only in the form of a committee
of pre-war members who held an AGM and a sherry party. The group of new, young,
members recovered the club’s boats from EUBC and carried out maintenance on
the small fleet. They began training, and affiliated the club to the SARA so that they
could start racing. Without that group, it is unlikely that SABC would still be in existence.

George was Secretary of SABC for several years, beginning in 1957.
Not content with helping to revive SABC, in 1958 George started a rowing club at his
old school, George Watson’s College. George ran that club as an unpaid volunteer
until in 1994 the school employed a member of staff with responsibility for rowing
and George was able to step back from active involvement. There are several
members of SABC who owe their start in rowing to George’s coaching and
encouragement.

George was on the executive of the Scottish Amateur Rowing Association (the
predecessor to Scottish Rowing) for 51 years. He combined the roles of secretary
and treasurer for many years, served two terms as president and then completed
another term as treasurer, before retiring in 2001.

Another area where George made a significant contribution to sport was through the
Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland. George served on their board for over
37 years. He was initially the Treasurer, raising and managing the funds to send
teams to the Games, and then became honorary secretary from 1970 to 1999.
George was assistant team manager for Scottish Games teams from 1966 in
Jamaica through to 1990 in New Zealand. George was also part of the team who
brought the Games to Edinburgh in 1970 and 1986.

The 1986 Games saw the return of rowing to the Games programme as one of the
optional sports. George was one of a number of people who had been instrumental
in getting the rowing course included in the initial design of Strathclyde Country Park
in the 1970s and then in ensuring that the facilities were upgraded to full international
standard to allow for the Commonwealth Games rowing in 1986.