Thames Rowing Club
Encyclopedia
Thames Rowing Club is a rowing club
Rowing club
A rowing club is a club for people interested in the sport of Rowing. Rowing clubs are usually located near a body of water, whether natural or artificial, that is large enough for manoeuvering of the shells . Clubs usually have racks to store boats and a dock to put them in the water...

 situated on 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,...

 in Putney
Putney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, 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...

. It was founded in 1860.

Club colours

Red, white and black in stripes, the white stripe lying between the red and black and being of half their width.

Clubhouse

The TRC clubhouse is situated on Putney Embankment between Rotherwood Road and Festing Road, approximately 400 metres from the Putney end of the Championship Course
The Championship Course
The stretch of the River Thames between Mortlake and Putney in London, England is a well-established course for rowing races, most famously the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. It is often referred to as The Championship Course...

. Its neighbouring clubs are Vesta Rowing Club
Vesta Rowing Club
Vesta Rowing Club is a rowing club based on the River Thames in Putney, London, England. It was founded in 1870.Vesta organizes two head races every year; the Scullers Head and the Veterans Head.-Notable results:...

 and Imperial College Boat Club
Imperial College Boat Club
Imperial College Boat Club is the rowing club for Imperial College and has its boat house on the River Thames in Putney, London, United Kingdom. It was housed from 1919 in Thames Rowing Club but has had its own boathouse since 1938. The club has been highly successful, with many wins at Henley...

. As such, the club's training water is the tidal stretch of the Thames (known as the tideway
Tideway
The Tideway is a name given to the part of the River Thames in England that is subject to tides. This stretch of water is downstream from Teddington Lock and is just under long...

); the club commonly trains upstream as far as Richmond Lock and less commonly downstream as far as Westminster Bridge
Westminster Bridge
Westminster Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames between Westminster on the north side and Lambeth on the south side, in London, England....

.

The clubhouse itself was constructed in 1879 with several later additions. In 2005, the club opened a new building behind the clubhouse, named in memory of former Club President and benefactor Alan Burrough
Alan Burrough
Alan Burrough, CBE was a British businessman, army officer and rower.He was Chairman of James Burrough Ltd, the distiller of Beefeater Gin....

 CBE, providing additional training facilities and boat storage. In May 2011, work began on substantial alterations and improvements to the clubhouse.

Current activities

Thames Rowing Club's stated focus is on racing and competition but it is also open to complete beginners. Thames appears to have one of the largest active memberships of any UK rowing club; this membership being split approximately equally between male and female.

Since first admitting women in 1973, the club has gained a strong reputation in women's rowing, and is recognised by the UK 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...

 as a High Performance Centre for women, with a programme to help top club oarswomen reach the British national squad. However Thames men have also won the Wyfold Challenge Cup
Wyfold Challenge Cup
The Wyfold Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's coxless fours at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from a single rowing club. Boat clubs from any university, college or secondary school are not permitted.The trophy...

 at Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...

 twice in recent years (in 2003 and 2006). Thames has a junior squad and additionally provides facilities to London Youth Rowing. Veteran Rowing at Thames is very strong, at all veteran levels, both men and women, regularly competing and winning at the World FISA World Masters Regatta.

As at July 2009, Thames had won events at Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...

 75 times. The most recent wins were the Wyfold Challenge Cup
Wyfold Challenge Cup
The Wyfold Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's coxless fours at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from a single rowing club. Boat clubs from any university, college or secondary school are not permitted.The trophy...

 for men's coxless fours in 2006 and the Remenham Challenge Cup
Remenham Challenge Cup
The Remenham Challenge Cup is a rowing event for women's eights at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to female crews from all eligible rowing clubs. Two or more clubs may combine to make an entry....

 for women's eights in 2005. The club also had a member in the composite crew which won the Remenham Challenge Cup in 2009.

In September 2010, the club announced the appointment of Tony Larkman as Head Coach.

Thames is one of only five clubs which retain the right to directly appoint representatives to the Council of 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...

. The others are Leander Club
Leander Club
Leander Club, founded in 1818, is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world. It is based in Remenham in the English county of Berkshire, adjoining Henley-on-Thames...

, London Rowing Club
London Rowing Club
London Rowing Club is one of the oldest rowing clubs on the River Thames in London, United Kingdom.It is regarded as one of the most exclusive and successful rowing clubs in Britain. and its Patron is HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh....

, Oxford University Boat Club
Oxford University Boat Club
The Oxford University Boat Club is the rowing club of the University of Oxford, England, located on the River Thames at Oxford. The club was founded in the early 19th century....

 and Cambridge University Boat Club
Cambridge University Boat Club
The Cambridge University Boat Club is the rowing club of the University of Cambridge, England, located on the River Cam at Cambridge, although training primarily takes place on the River Great Ouse at Ely. The club was founded in 1828...

.

Thames is one of the Founding Clubs of Remenham Club
Remenham Club
The Remenham Club is a private members club near the village of Remenham on the Berkshire bank of the River Thames near Henley-on-Thames, on the reach of the river that plays host to the annual Henley Royal Regatta....

.

History

Thames Rowing Club was founded under the name City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

 Rowing Club and according to its first rules, its objects were 'organised pleasure or exercise rowing'. The earliest surviving minutes of a club meeting are dated January 1861 but are headed 'City of London Rowing Club. Founded 1860', and 1860 is commonly accepted as the year of foundation.

The initial members were chiefly clerks and salesmen working in London's textiles trade around Fore Street and St Paul's Churchyard. At least one of the early meetings is known to have taken place in the Lord Raglan public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

 in St Martin's-le-Grand. The club had boats at Simmons Boathouse (the building currently occupied by Chas Newens Marine) and a room at the Red Lion Hotel at the foot of Putney High Street. There were very few members at first, but the numbers rapidly increased, and in 1862, when club races were first started, the club numbered nearly 150.

In 1862, the club sought and gained the permission of Frank Playford
Francis Playford
Francis Playford was a British rower who won the Wingfield Sculls in 1849 and the pairs oars at Henley Royal Regatta....

, the only traceable member of "The Thames Club" which had rowed on the Tideway
Tideway
The Tideway is a name given to the part of the River Thames in England that is subject to tides. This stretch of water is downstream from Teddington Lock and is just under long...

 in the 1840s, to rename itself "The Thames Rowing Club".

By 1864 a growing interest in competition led to the club’s first recorded win, in a four-oared race against the Excelsior Boat Club of Greenwich. The club also put on a crew for the Metropolitan Junior Eights, started in 1865, and followed this up the next year by securing the Challenge Cup for Junior Eights at the first Metropolitan Regatta
Metropolitan Regatta
The Metropolitan Regatta is an international rowing regatta. It takes place on Dorney Lake, Buckinghamshire near Eton next to the River Thames in southern England. It attracts crews from schools, clubs and universities from around the United Kingdom, Europe and the USA...

.

In 1870 the Club won at Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...

 for the first time, taking the Wyfold Challenge Cup
Wyfold Challenge Cup
The Wyfold Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's coxless fours at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from a single rowing club. Boat clubs from any university, college or secondary school are not permitted.The trophy...

 from the Oscillators Club of Surbiton and the Oxford Etonians in a race that, according to the Rowing Almanack, was ‘a pretty hollow affair, the Thames crew winning as they pleased from first to last.’ Over the next twenty years, Thames had its first great flowering, with 22 wins at Henley by 1890, including four victories in the most prestigious event, the Grand Challenge Cup
Grand Challenge Cup
The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing competition for men's eights. It is the oldest and most prestigious event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing clubs...

 for eights.

In 1877 the Thames Boathouse Company (Limited) was formed for the purpose of providing a boat and club house for the club. Money was raised by means of shares, the club and the company being kept quite distinct. The construction of the present Thames boathouse on a site about 300 yards above that of London Rowing Club
London Rowing Club
London Rowing Club is one of the oldest rowing clubs on the River Thames in London, United Kingdom.It is regarded as one of the most exclusive and successful rowing clubs in Britain. and its Patron is HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh....

 followed and the building was completed in 1879 at a cost of over £3000.

Thames, under its captain James Hastie
James Hastie
James Hastie was a British rower who won Silver Goblets at Henley Royal Regatta three times.Hastie was born at sea, and became a brewers agent in London. He was a member of Thames Rowing Club where he was a long standing captain. In 1877 Hastie with W Eyre won Silver Goblets at Henley Royal...

, was now established as a mainstay of amateur rowing in London, and as a rival to its Putney neighbour London Rowing Club
London Rowing Club
London Rowing Club is one of the oldest rowing clubs on the River Thames in London, United Kingdom.It is regarded as one of the most exclusive and successful rowing clubs in Britain. and its Patron is HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh....

.. In 1879 Thames, like London, was one of the founder clubs of the Metropolitan Rowing Association which later became 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...

 (ARA).

This early period was the time of the great Victorian amateur. Many Thames members were keen on all sports and the club itself also had an influence beyond rowing:

In December 1867, Thames organised a two and a half mile handicap steeplechase or paperchase similar to a cross-country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

 race around Wimbledon Common as part of the oarsmen’s winter training. These are generally accepted as the first open cross-country events to have taken place in Britain. One eventual result was the foundation of the Thames Hare and Hounds
Thames Hare and Hounds
Thames Hare and Hounds is the oldest cross-country running club in the world, based on the Roehampton end of Wimbledon Common, adjacent to Richmond Park, and draws runners from across south-west London...

 in October 1868, the first cross-country club, which would itself go on to an illustrious history.

Another addition to rowing training was boxing, with a ring frequently set up in the hall at the clubhouse. George Vize, a member of five winning crews at Henley, became amateur heavyweight champion of Britain in 1878 and a founder member of the Amateur Boxing Association
Amateur Boxing Association of England
The Amateur Boxing Association of England is the governing body of amateur boxing clubs in England. There are separate organisations for Scotland and Wales with boxing in Northern Ireland being organised on an All-Ireland basis. The Association was founded in 1880...

. Boxing finally disappeared after the First World War, when the coach Steve Fairbairn
Steve Fairbairn
Steve Fairbairn was a rower and an influential rowing coach, notably at Jesus College Boat Club, Cambridge University, Thames Rowing Club and London Rowing Club in the early decades of the 20th century.-Early life:...

 ended it because of the damage caused to oarsmen’s hands.

From the late 1890s into the first decade of the 20th century, Thames suffered a decline but recovered as the decade wore on, notably through the efforts of Julius Beresford
Julius Beresford
Julius Beresford , also known as Berry or The Old Berry, was a British rower and coach who competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics.-Life:...

 and Karl Vernon
Karl Vernon
Karl Vernon , sometimes known by his nickname The Bean was a British rower and coach who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics.-Life:Vernon was born in Neuenahr, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany...

.

After the First World War, Thames came under the influence of the coach Steve Fairbairn. Fairbairn was an Australian graduate of Cambridge, with boundless charisma and innovative (and highly controversial) views on training and technique. He was one of the major influences on the club and on the sport in general, becoming generally accepted as the father of modern rowing. Under his tutelage in the 1920s, and that of Julius Beresford
Julius Beresford
Julius Beresford , also known as Berry or The Old Berry, was a British rower and coach who competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics.-Life:...

, Thames reached new heights. Fairbairn left the club for London Rowing Club
London Rowing Club
London Rowing Club is one of the oldest rowing clubs on the River Thames in London, United Kingdom.It is regarded as one of the most exclusive and successful rowing clubs in Britain. and its Patron is HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh....

 in 1925. The precise reasons are unclear but undoubtedly a clash with Julius Beresford was partly at the root: the two coaches, despite holding similar views on technique, were unable to get on. Under Beresford, Thames won four events at Henley in both 1927 and 1928, something which no club has replicated in the 20th century.

At the same time, Thames was home to Britain’s greatest ever single sculler. Jack Beresford
Jack Beresford
Jack Beresford, CBE, was a British rower who won medals at five Olympic Games in succession, an Olympic record in rowing, which has since been tied by Steven Redgrave.-Early life:...

 (son of Julius) took Silver at the 1920 Amsterdam Olympics in an epic race with Jack Kelly
John B. Kelly, Sr.
John Brendan Kelly, Sr., also known as Jack Kelly, was one of the most accomplished American oarsmen in the history of the sport of rowing. He was a triple Olympic Gold Medal winner, the first to do so in the sport of rowing. He won 126 straight races in the single scull...

, before going one better with Gold at Paris in 1924. He won the Diamond Sculls
Diamond Challenge Sculls
The Diamond Challenge Sculls is a rowing event for men's single sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England...

 at Henley four times and the Wingfield Sculls for the Amateur championship of Great Britain a record seven times. Then, with Thames crews, he took three further Olympic medals: Silver in the eight in Antwerp, 1928, Gold in the coxless four in Los Angeles, 1932 and Gold in the double scull in Berlin, 1936. It would be 60 years before 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...

 bettered his record.

Although never again reaching the heights of the late 1920s, Thames continued to be successful through the thirties and then, after the Second World War, into the forties and fifties. However, in the early sixties the club began to experience a marked decline in membership and standards and by the early seventies it had very few active members and came close to bankruptcy. The club went for 47 years from 1956 without a win by a men's crew at Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...

. Finally in 2003, Thames achieved an emphatic win in the Wyfold Challenge Cup
Wyfold Challenge Cup
The Wyfold Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's coxless fours at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from a single rowing club. Boat clubs from any university, college or secondary school are not permitted.The trophy...

 and this was repeated in 2006.

In 1972, Thames became one of the first British rowing clubs to admit women and rapidly became the powerhouse of women's rowing, a position it retains to this day. Thames women have represented Great Britain at every Olympic Games since Los Angeles; most recently Elise Laverick
Elise Laverick
Elise Mary Laverick is a British rower. She won bronze at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the double scull with Sarah Winckless, and again at the 2008 Summer Olympics with Anna Bebington...

 won Bronze in the double scull at the Beijing Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

 in 2008 and the Athens Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

 in 2004 and sisters Guin Batten
Guin Batten
Guin Batten is a British rower . She at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the quadruple scull with her elder sister Miriam Batten, Gillian Lindsay and Katherine Grainger....

 and Miriam Batten
Miriam Batten
Miriam Batten is a British rower. She won silver at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the quadruple scull with her younger sister Guin Batten and gold at the 1998 World Rowing Championships in the double scull with Gillian Lindsay....

 won Silver in the quadruple scull at the Sydney Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

. Since the founding of Henley Women's Regatta
Henley Women's Regatta
Henley Women's Regatta is a rowing regatta held at Henley-on-Thames, England. It was formed as a result of the lack of women's events at Henley Royal Regatta and first held in 1988...

 in 1987, the Club has won there 49 times.

Rowing by older oarsmen (and more recently oarswomen) has been a part of the club's activities throughout its history, but has increased since the 1970s in line with the greater opportunities for veteran competition now on offer. A group of casual and veteran men came into existence in the 1970s; separate groups of veteran oarsmen and women of different ages, such as the self-declared "fatties", "slims" and "slimettes" have since arisen from time to time.

Winning crews at Henley Royal Regatta

(Composites marked with an asterisk)
! colspan="2"| Winning crews at Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...

  
|-
! Year>

Winning crews at Henley Women's Regatta

! colspan="2"| Winning crews at Henley Women's Regatta
Henley Women's Regatta
Henley Women's Regatta is a rowing regatta held at Henley-on-Thames, England. It was formed as a result of the lack of women's events at Henley Royal Regatta and first held in 1988...

  
|-
! Year>

Olympian Members

! colspan="4"| Olympians from Thames RC  
|-
! Olympiad >

See also

  • Leander Club
    Leander Club
    Leander Club, founded in 1818, is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world. It is based in Remenham in the English county of Berkshire, adjoining Henley-on-Thames...

  • London Rowing Club
    London Rowing Club
    London Rowing Club is one of the oldest rowing clubs on the River Thames in London, United Kingdom.It is regarded as one of the most exclusive and successful rowing clubs in Britain. and its Patron is HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh....

  • Imperial College Boat Club
    Imperial College Boat Club
    Imperial College Boat Club is the rowing club for Imperial College and has its boat house on the River Thames in Putney, London, United Kingdom. It was housed from 1919 in Thames Rowing Club but has had its own boathouse since 1938. The club has been highly successful, with many wins at Henley...

  • Rowing on the River Thames
    Rowing on the River Thames
    The River Thames is one of the main rowing areas in England, with activity taking place on the Tideway and on the 45 separate lock reaches on the non tidal section. The river hosts two major rowing events The Boat Race and Henley Royal Regatta, and a large number of other regattas and long distance...


External links

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