Minerva Bath Rowing Club is a rowing club in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, England. Minerva is

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded partners, ...

Clubmark accredited. The club is based in

Newbridge, Bath Newbridge is a largely residential area on the western edge of Bath, Somerset, England, which is named for the New Bridge built in 1734 to carry the Bristol-Bath road over the River Avon. An electoral ward of the same name extends into the city ...

with its home water on the River Avon. The club shares its facilities with the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

Boat Club and the British Rowing START Program.

The club

Minerva is

Clubmark accredited which means it has demonstrated awareness of child protection and safety, along with providing quality coaching, equal opportunities and good management. The club is also a participant in the Mentoring Plus, a youth crime prevention project working with vulnerable young people, living in Bath and North East Somerset.

History

The club was founded in 1914 as Bath Ladies Boating Club (BLBC), although there is reference to a club existing before the turn of the 20th century. It is one of the earliest women's rowing clubs in England and had strong links with the

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

movement in the city. This association is still represented with the club's colours of violet and gold. The club rowed out of the Bath Boating Station (later known as Maynard's boatyard) during some of its formative years. Klaus Riekemann competed at

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

in Rome and

Arnold Cooke Arnold Atkinson Cooke (4 November 1906 – 13 August 2005) was a British composer, a pupil of Paul Hindemith. He wrote a considerable amount of chamber music, including five string quartets and many instrumental sonatas, much of which is only n ...

competed at

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

in Tokyo. Both competed in the World Masters in 2012. In 1992, Bath Ladies Boat Club merged with City of Bath Rowing Club to bring the club into its present form. The club moved to its present site in 2005, putting in place a boathouse built entirely by its membership. A second boathouse was built in 2010 and named after Arnold Cooke. Minerva Bath Rowing gained a great deal of positive publicity during the London

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

when Helen Glover; a product of the British Rowing START program who learnt to row at Minerva won a gold medal with

Heather Stanning Heather Mary Stanning (born 26 January 1985) is a retired British professional rower. As a member of the Great Britain rowing team, she is a double Olympic champion, double World champion, quadruple World Cup champion and double European champ ...

in the Women's Coxless Pairs at

Eton Dorney Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built Rowing (sport), rowing lake and Meetings & Events Venue in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, ...

. In 2016, another rowers from the START program

Vicky Thornley Victoria Thornley (born 30 November 1987) is a British rower. She won a silver medal for Great Britain with Katherine Grainger in the women's double sculls at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She was also a member of the Great Britain team that finishe ...

won a silver medal at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Notable members

* Helen Glover * Klaus Riekemann

Honours

National champions

Henley Royal Regatta

References

{{Portal, United Kingdom, Transport 1914 establishments in England Sports clubs and teams established in 1914 History of rowing Boathouses in the United Kingdom Clubs and societies in Somerset Sport in Bath, Somerset Rowing clubs of the River Avon