Amy Constance Gentry OBE (26 July 1903 – 11 June 1976) was a pioneer of

women's rowing Women's rowing is the participation of women in the sport of rowing. Women row in all boat classes, from single scull to eights, across the same age ranges and standards as men, from junior amateur through university-level to elite athlete. Typi ...

in England, starting at

Weybridge Rowing Club Weybridge Rowing Club, founded in 1881, is a rowing club by the Thames in England, on the Surrey bank. The club organises head races, notably the Weybridge Silver Sculls which has had Olympian winners and co-organises a May/June regatta. It con ...

where she founded a ladies section in 1920. She competed in a variety of styles and was the undefeated champion of the women's

single scull A single scull (or a scull), abbreviated as a 1x, is a racing shell designed for a single person who propels the boat with two oars, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly semi-circular in cross-se ...

from 1932 to 1934. She then became a successful administrator of the sport. During World War II, she was the secretary of the famous Vickers engineer,

Barnes Wallis Sir Barnes Neville Wallis (26 September 1887 – 30 October 1979) was an English engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the Royal Air Force in Operation Chastise (the "Dambusters" raid) to attack ...

, and assisted him with his experiments to develop a

bouncing bomb A bouncing bomb is a bomb designed to bounce to a target across water in a calculated manner to avoid obstacles such as torpedo nets, and to allow both the bomb's speed on arrival at the target and the timing of its detonation to be predeterm ...

to destroy German dams.

Early life

Gentry was born in

Barnes Barnes may refer to: People *Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom * Barnes, London, England ** Barnes railway station **Barnes Bridge railway station ** Barnes High Stree ...

, close to the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

, and participated in water sports when young, racing

dinghies A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or Towing, towed by a Watercraft, larger vessel for use as a Ship's tender, tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they diffe ...

at the age of six. In 1919,

organised celebrations of the Allied victory in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and she took part in a race of ladies' fours. This was successful and she then helped establish the club's ladies' section in 1920. In 1925, she was a member of a club team which defeated crews from France, Belgium, and the Netherlands at a royal charity

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wa ...

in Brussels. She founded a separate Weybridge ladies' rowing club in 1926 and later became its chair – a position she retained until her death.

Championships and honours

She rowed with her brother Frank in mixed double

sculling Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, its ...

events and they won three consecutive championships from 1924 to 1926. In 1927, she took part in the first

Women's Eights Head of the River Race The Women's Eights Head of the River Race (WEHoRR) is a processional rowing race held annually on the Tideway of the River Thames in London on the Championship Course from Mortlake to Putney. A mirror of the Eights Head of the River for ma ...

which her Weybridge ladies club boat won. She went on to become British

s champion in 1932, 1933, and 1934, and retired undefeated. She also helped administer the sport of rowing, acting as secretary of the Women's Amateur Rowing Association between 1926 and 1938, then chairing it and its successor body, the women's committee of the

Amateur Rowing Association British Rowing, formerly the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA), is the national governing body for the sport of rowing (both indoor and on-water rowing). It is responsible for the training and selection of individual rowers and crews representi ...

, until retiring in 1968. In 1960, she persuaded the

International Rowing Federation World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation (officially FISA; ), is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who succeeded Denis Oswald at a ceremony held in Lucerne in July 2 ...

to hold its women's European championships in London. She was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for services to rowing in 1969.

World War II

During World War II, she worked at

Vickers Armstrong Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, wi ...

as secretary for

and assisted him with his famous experiments to make a

to destroy German dams. Wallis would

catapult A catapult is a ballistics, ballistic device used to launch a projectile at a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden rel ...

wooden models across the water, which Gentry would then row out to retrieve. She rowed him out on Silvermere lake and took charge to ensure that they did not capsize, saying "Sit down Wallis! You'll have us both in the water, and I'm in charge of this boat!".

Death

She died in hospital at

Stanwell Stanwell is a village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Spelthorne district, in Surrey, England. It is west of central London. A small corner of its land is used as industrial land for nearby Heathrow Airport. The rest of the village is made up o ...

in 1976 at the age of 72. She was unmarried and left no children.

References

External links

Amy Gentry, OBE, Founder of Women's Rowing
– portrait by Villers Butler

– Amy Gentry and her contemporaries in photographs now archived at the

River and Rowing Museum The River & Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, is located on a site at Mill Meadows by the River Thames. It has three main themes represented by major permanent galleries, the non-tidal River Thames, the international spor ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gentry, Amy 1903 births 1976 deaths English female rowers Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Barnes, London Sportspeople from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames British women in World War II 20th-century English sportswomen