Mark Rowsom was one of Canada’s best figure skaters in the 1980s. He won three consecutive Canadian Championships gold medals in pairs competition with partner Cynthia Coull.

Rowsom was born on April 16, 1959 in Comber.

A brilliant and intelligent technical skater, Rowsom trained under Kerry Leitch, who first paired him with Coull, a singles skater from Montreal. The pair competed together at the World Championships only nine months after their first practice session as a duo.

With his longtime partner, Rowsom finished no lower than third place at the Canadian Championships from 1980 to ’84. In national competition, the two placed second in 1983 and third in ’84 before winning three consecutive gold medals from ’85 to ’87.

At the World Figure Skating Championships, Rowsom and Coull placed ninth, seventh, seventh, third, and sixth in consecutive years between 1983 and ’86.

Rowsom and Coull also competed on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating circuit. At Skate Canada International, they placed second in 1984 and won gold in ’86. At the latter competition, Rowsom and Coull defeated Ekatrina Gordeeva and Sergey Grinkov, a much-lauded Russian duo that’s discussed amongst the greatest ever figure skating pairs.

Rowsom and Coull also placed fourth at Skate America during the 1982-83 season. In 1984, the pair placed third in the NHK Trophy competition, a major international meet organized by the Japanese Skating Federation.

In total, Rowsom won four gold, three silver, and six bronze medals in national and world competition.

Today, Rowsom is recognized as one the most successful figure skaters ever to emerge from Essex County. At the time of his induction into the WECSHOF, he taught at the Preston Figure Skating Club in Cambridge, Ontario.