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Hall of Fame

Bruce Merritt

  • Class
  • Induction
    1990
  • Sport(s)

Class of 1984
Sports: Canoe, Kayak

Athletic Accomplishments:

Bruce was an avid canoeist before, during and after his years atSt. Mary’s. He was a member of the College’s 1978Collegiate Canoe-Kayak Championship team and earned the high pointaward at the championship competition. Bruce captured two goldmedals and one silver in C-1 (one man) events at the 1978 NationalCanoe and Kayak Champi­onships. He was consistently ranked thenumber one or two paddler in the nation in the C-1 and C-2 (twoman) categories. In the 1984 Summer Olympics, Bruce made it to thefinals in two events; 1000 meter canoe singles (C-1) and 500 metercanoe doubles (C-2). Although he did not medal at that Olympics, hewas among the first Americans to make the Olympic canoeing finalsin 16 years. He received the College’s Ark & Dove Awardin 1984 after the Olympics and competed in his second Olympics in1988.

Most Memorable Sports Experience at St.Mary’s:

"After four years of canoeing inactivity during highschool years and no serious prepara­tion and getting beaten atthe collegiate nationals as a freshman, I decided to actually trainand made a comeback to win as a sophomore at the collegiatenationals the next year. This was really just the beginning of anadult career in Olympic style canoe racing where I eventually leftbehind collegiate participation for higher caliber U.S. NationalTeam participation and international competition. Also memorablewas when I, along with Scott Steele ’81(1990 Hall of Famer), received the Ark & Dove Award at awater­front ceremony post ’84 games."

Since St. Mary’s:

"I really enjoyed my time at St Mary’s. Before and after Iwithdrew from regular enroll­ment I was a competing member ofthe 1981, ’82, ’83, ’85, ’86 and ’87U.S. Senior World Championship Canoe Teams and a competing memberof the ’84 and ’88 U.S. Olympic Canoe Teams. Followingretirement from competition after the ’88 games, I coachedthe American canoeists for four years and then got out of thesport. When I left the sport I returned to college finally at age34 in Indianapolis where 90 of my SMCM credits transferred toIndiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and Iworked in cabinet shops while I went to school at night. I fellinto quality assurance in 1994, first in the scrap metal processingindustry, then transferred to fastener distribu­tion, and havebeen in quality management ever since, being a quality assurancemanager from 1998 to present. I have been employed by PyromationInc., a manufacturer of tem­perature sensors since 2002."

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