The Calcutta Rowing Club (CRC), located in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, West Bengal, India, was founded in 1858 and is one of the oldest rowing clubs of its kind outside the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

History

The club's early history was lost in the great cyclone which hit

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

in 1864,L.H., Macklin ''A Summary of the Records of the Calcutta Rowing Club, 1858 to 1932''. For Calcutta Rowing Club, 1932, p. 1. during which the boat house and the boats, together with the minute books and records, disappeared. The only things preserved were the accounts of 1858-59 signed by John Cowle, as the Honorary Secretary and Treasurer, and he goes down in history as the first officer on record. In these records it is noted that a six oared boat was purchased for Rs. 300 and the following year a ‘Four’ was imported from Hong Kong for a sum of Rs. 448. After the cyclone, a temporary thatched roof boat house was built in 1861, on the banks of the Hooghly near Chand pal Ghat, the Regatta course was 1 mile from Fort Point to Shalimar or from Shalimar to Botanical Gardens. In 1864 the Club colours of Blue and White were adopted. The club competed at the Head of the Lake Regatta, an annual rowing competition that began in 1933. At the 1950 All-India Regatta, the CRC won trophies in all three events — sculls, pairs and fours. The feat was previously achieved only by the Royal Connaught Boat Club in 1936.

Present location

With the construction of the Dhakuria Lake in 1928, the club moved to its present location- 15 Rabindra Sarobar, Calcutta-700029. CRC has maintained its outstanding position in the rowing scene and from 1979 won the ARAE, the WBRA and the Head of Lake trophies - a stream of unique successes which no rowing club in the East has yet been able to achieve.

Reciprocal clubs

The club has reciprocal arrangements with more than 100 clubs throughout the world. Members can use the facilities of overseas reciprocal clubs with a card or letter of introduction issued by the Calcutta Rowing Club. * Madras Boat Club, Chennai, India * The Durban Club, Durban, South Africa * National Liberal Club, London, UK * The Clifton Club, Bristol, UK * Ceylon Sports Club, Singapore * Terminal City Club, Vancouver, Canada * The British Club, Bangkok, Thailand

References

External links

Calcutta Rowing Club homepage
Rowing clubs in India Sports clubs and teams in Kolkata 1858 establishments in British India Sports venues in Kolkata

History

Present location

Reciprocal clubs

See also

References

Further reading

External links