On the water: tested, and mostly a negative

1945 — present

No powerboat racing on this river: The St. Joseph River at South Bend carries no sanctioned powerboat or hydroplane race in the record this history could reach — the test was run against the regatta and sanctioning record, and the negative is printed as a finding, not an omission. The city's outboard men raced, but on other people's water. A St. Joseph Valley Outboard Racing Association existed in the 1940s, and among its officials who helped run the Culver Lions Club's outboard regatta on Lake Maxinkuckee — Marshall County's water, entered here at the boundary — were South Bend's Harry Nicodemus, a national champion in the sport, and his son Eddie. That regatta, first run in 1945, was sanctioned by the National Outboard Association and later by the American Power Boat Association, with two heats each in the A, B, C, and F hydroplane classes.

The racing the river does hold: The documented racing on the St. Joseph at South Bend is human-powered: the Friends of the St. Joe River Association's St. Joe River Races at Veterans' Memorial Park — the 10th annual running in 2013, so from 2004, and the 16th in 2019 — with 3-mile and 7.2-mile canoe and kayak classes under United States Canoe Association specifications and a run-paddle biathlon. The river's championship whitewater, the East Race's 2004 United States Olympic slalom trials, belongs to the Famous Locations record and is cross-referenced there, not retold here.

Sources:

1. The Culver Citizen record of the Culver Lions Club outboard regatta (compiled at maxinkuckee.history.pasttracker.com) — the regatta from 1945 on Lake Maxinkuckee, the National Outboard Association and later APBA sanction, the A, B, C, and F classes at two heats each, and the St. Joseph Valley Outboard Racing Association's officials, South Bend's Harry Nicodemus — a national champion — and his son Eddie among them.
2. Friends of the St. Joe River Association, event records — the St. Joe River Races at Veterans' Memorial Park, the 10th annual in 2013 and the 16th in 2019, the 3-mile and 7.2-mile courses, the USCA specifications, and the run-paddle biathlon.
3. Famous Landmarks — the East Race and its 2004 Olympic trials, cross-referenced and not retold.