The Redgrave-Pinsent Rowing Lake is a rowing

Sport rowing

Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...

 lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, named after the Olympic

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 rowers Sir Steve Redgrave

Steve Redgrave

Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave CBE is an English rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships gold medals...

 and Sir Matthew Pinsent

Matthew Pinsent

Sir Matthew Clive Pinsent CBE is an English rower and broadcaster. During his rowing career, he won 10 world championship gold medals and four consecutive Olympic gold medals, of which three were with Steve Redgrave...

. The lake and its boathouse are specifically designed for training use, and will provide training, medical, and scientific facities for the GB

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 rowing squad, and for Oxford University in preparation for the Boat Race. The lake is also available for crews from University College, Oxford

University College, Oxford

.University College , is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m...

 to use, as well as rowing crews from Oxford Brookes University

Oxford Brookes University

Oxford Brookes University is a new university in Oxford, England. It was named to honour the school's founding principal, John Brookes. It has been ranked as the best new university by the Sunday Times University Guide 10 years in a row...

.

The lake is situated in the South Oxfordshire

South Oxfordshire

South Oxfordshire is a local government district in Oxfordshire, England. Its council is based in Crowmarsh Gifford, just outside Wallingford....

 parish of Eye & Dunsden

Eye & Dunsden

Eye and Dunsden is a largely rural civil parish in the most southern part of English county of Oxfordshire.It includes the villages of Sonning Eye, Dunsden Green and Playhatch and borders on the River Thames with the village of Sonning in Berkshire connected via Sonning Bridge just over the river...

 between the Reading

Reading, Berkshire

Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....

 suburb of Caversham

Caversham, Berkshire

Caversham is a suburb and former village in the unitary authority of Reading, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, within the royal county of Berkshire, on the opposite bank from the rest of Reading...

 and the village of Sonning Eye

Sonning Eye

Sonning Eye is a hamlet on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, in the civil parish of Eye & Dunsden, at the very southernmost tip of Oxfordshire.- Overview :...

. It was created by the selective dredging and reclamation of part of the Caversham Lakes

Caversham Lakes

Caversham Lakes is a set of lakes created through gravel extraction between the suburb of Caversham in Reading, Berkshire and the hamlet of Sonning Eye in Oxfordshire, just north of the River Thames.- Overview :...

, a string of lakes that adjoin the River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

 and which were originally created as a result of gravel extraction by Sonning Works

Sonning Works

The Sonning Works are a gravel works owned by Lafarge, located near Sonning Eye, Oxfordshire, England.- Overview :The gravel works is positioned on the south side of the B478 Playhatch Road between Playhatch to the west and Sonning Eye on the River Thames to the east...

. The project to create the facility was sponsored by a partnership of the Caversham Lakes Trust, Sport England

Sport England

Sport England is the brand name for the English Sports Council and is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

, the Amateur Rowing Association

Amateur Rowing Association

British Rowing, formerly the Amateur Rowing Association , is the governing body in England for the sport of rowing. It is also responsible for the development and organisation of international rowing teams representing Great Britain...

 and the Thames and Kennet Marina. The budget was £13 million and the lake was officially opened in April 2006 by the two men after which it is named.

Berry Brook

Berry Brook

The Berry Brook is a stream close to Sonning Eye in the flood plain of the River Thames, in southern Oxfordshire, England.The stream flows northeast from close to the Redgrave-Pinsent Rowing Lake, parallel with the A4155 Henley Road ourt of Caversham, Reading towards Henley-on-Thames. It flows...

 starts close to the Redgrave-Pinsent Rowing Lake, running northeast through the Thames floodplain, before joining the river at Hallsmead Ait

Hallsmead Ait

Hallsmead Ait is an island in the River Thames in Berkshire, England. It is on the reach above Shiplake Lock near Lower Shiplake.The island is large and triangular shaped, forming a pair with The Lynch, a similar shaped island. It is uninhabited and covered with a wide variety of trees...

.

External links

• Visit by Steve Redgrave
• Information from the Amateur Rowing Association
  Amateur Rowing Association
  British Rowing, formerly the Amateur Rowing Association , is the governing body in England for the sport of rowing. It is also responsible for the development and organisation of international rowing teams representing Great Britain...
  
  

• Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake to Promote Talent at Caversham, SportFocus, 12/11/01, including an aerial view