He took over the captaincy early in the tour when the Robert L. Seddon died in a sculling accident.
Cynthia L. "Cindy" Ryder (born August 12, 1966) is an American Olympic athlete who won the gold medal in women's single sculls rowing event at the 1991 Pan American Games and participated in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
(Canada's Kathleen Heddle and Marnie McBean accomplished the same, sculling and sweep gold medals, in 1992 and 1996.)
They were commissioned to build to single sculling boats for the Vancouver Rowing Club’s boathouse, without moorage, and found that at low tide they rested precariously on the mud flats.
Used by Olympic athletes in both sculling and sweep disciplines including Mahé Drysdale, Alan Campbell and crews from US Rowing and New Zealand.