Lorne Loomer is a Canadian athlete in a rarefied league. Only he and three other Canadians have gold medals from the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Lorne and his three teammates won the gold on the Canadian fours rowing crew. Loomer went on to captain the Canadian team at the 1958 Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, where he again won gold. He also competed in the 1960's Rome Olympics. By the mid 1960's, Loomer was established as the coach of the University of Victoria's rowing program, which had been established through a donation from the late Harold Elworthy. Loomer developed an astonishing number of young, talented rowers that formed the backbone of the Canadian showing at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 1988 Seoul Olympics.