The Thames Rowing Club (TRC) is a

rowing club A rowing club is a club for people interested in the sport of rowing. Rowing clubs are usually near a body of water, either natural or artificial, that is large enough for maneuvering the rowing boats. Clubs usually have a boathouse with racks t ...

based on the tidal

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

as it flows through the western suburbs of London. The TRC clubhouse stands on

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

Embankment. The club was founded in 1860. As of July 2023, Thames had won events at

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

88 times. Thames is one of the founding clubs of

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. It was formed in 1909 by me ...

; a social club for rowers, with a clubhouse and grounds on the

course. Thames hosts

Cambridge University Women's Boat Club Cambridge University Women's Boat Club (CUWBC) was the rowing club for women at the University of Cambridge. CUWBC fielded both a lightweight eight that races against Oxford at the Henley Boat Races, and two openweight eights that race at the ...

for their winter Tideway training ahead of the

Women's Boat Race The Women's Boat Race is an annual rowing (sport), rowing race between Cambridge University Boat Club and Oxford University Women's Boat Club. First rowed in 1927, the race has taken place annually since 1964. Since the The Boat Races 2015, 20 ...

, and on race day itself. Thames also houses the

Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. It is also known as the Uni ...

's media centre and administrative office. The club colours are red, white and black in stripes, the white stripe lying between the red and black and being of half their width.

History

Foundation

Thames Rowing Club was founded under the name

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

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. Established 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. The early meetings are known to have taken place in the Lord Raglan

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

St Martin's-le-Grand St. Martin's Le Grand is a former liberty within the City of London, and is the name of a street north of Newgate Street and Cheapside and south of Aldersgate Street. It forms the southernmost section of the A1 road. For many years St. Martin ...

. 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, the only traceable member of "The Thames Club" which had rowed on the

Tideway The Tideway is the part of the River Thames in England which is subject to tides. This stretch of water is downstream from Teddington Lock. The Tideway comprises the upper Thames Estuary including the Pool of London. Tidal activity Depending ...

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

Early successes

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 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 ...

. In 1870 the Club won at

for the first time, taking the

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 The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through so ...

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 The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing (sport), rowing competition for men's eight (rowing), eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male cr ...

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 (LRC, or colloquially, 'London') is the second-oldest of the non-academic active rowing clubs on the Thames in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1856 by members of the long-disbanded Argonauts Club wishing to compete ...

followed and the building was completed in 1879 at a cost of over £3000. Thames, under its captain James Hastie, was now established as a mainstay of amateur rowing in London, and as a rival to its Putney neighbour

. In 1879 Thames, like London, was one of the founder clubs of the Metropolitan Rowing Association which later became the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA). As a result, Thames was one of five clubs which had the right until 2012 to appoint representatives to the Council of the ARA and its successor

British Rowing 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 represent ...

. The others were

Leander Club Leander Club, founded in 1818, is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world, and the oldest non-academic club. It is based in Remenham in Berkshire, England and adjoins Henley-on-Thames. Only three other surviving clubs were founded prior ...

Oxford University Boat Club Oxford University Boat Club (OUBC) is the Rowing (sport), rowing club for the University of Oxford, England, located on the River Thames at Oxford. The club was founded in 1829. The prime constitutional aim of OUBC is to beat Cambridge Univers ...

and

Cambridge University Boat Club The Cambridge University Boat Club (CUBC) is the rowing club of the University of Cambridge, England. The club was founded in 1828 and has been located at the Goldie Boathouse on the River Cam, Cambridge since 1882. Nowadays, training primaril ...

. 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 race around

Wimbledon Common Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Co ...

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 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. Boxing finally disappeared after the First World War, when the coach

Steve Fairbairn Stephen Fairbairn (25 August 1862 – 16 May 1938) was a rower and an influential rowing coach at Jesus College Boat Club, Cambridge University, Thames Rowing Club and London Rowing Club in the early decades of the 20th century, and founded t ...

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

From the 20th Century to the present day

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 and Karl Vernon. After 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 ...

, 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, Thames reached new heights. Fairbairn left the club for

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 replicated in the 20th century. At the same time, Thames was home to Britain's greatest ever single sculler.

Jack Beresford Jack Beresford, CBE (1 January 1899 – 3 December 1977), born Jack Beresford-Wiszniewski, was a British rower who won five medals at five Olympic Games in succession. This record in Olympic rowing was not matched until 2000 when Sir Steve R ...

(son of Julius) took Silver at the 1920 Amsterdam Olympics in an epic race with Jack Kelly, before going one better with Gold at Paris in 1924. He won the Diamond Sculls at Henley four times and the

Wingfield Sculls The Wingfield Sculls is a Rowing (sport), rowing race held annually on the River Thames in London, England, on the The Championship Course, Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake. The race is between single scullers and is usually on the ...

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 Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave (born 23 March 1962) is a British retired 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 golds ...

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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, into the forties and fifties. However, in the early sixties the club began to experience a marked decline in membership and standards. By the early seventies Thames 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

. 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 represented Great Britain at every Olympic Games between

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. Sisters

Guin Batten Guin Batten (born 27 September 1967) is a British rower. She won silver at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the quadruple scull with her elder sister Miriam Batten, Gillian Lindsay and Katherine Grainger. Guin was a member of the Southampton Univ ...

and

Miriam Batten Miriam Luke (née Batten; born 4 November 1964) is a former British rower who competed at three Olympic Games and winning a silver medal in 2000. Rowing career Batten was a member of the Southampton University Boat Club whilst she studied at ...

won Silver in the quadruple scull at the

Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. Elise Laverick won Bronze in the double scull at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and in the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Since the founding of

Henley Women's Regatta Henley Women's Regatta, often abbreviated to "HWR" or "Women's Henley", is a rowing regatta held at Henley-on-Thames, England. Chris Aistrop and Rosemary Mayglothling were jointly responsible for setting up the Regatta in June 1988 and Aistrop ...

in 1987, the club has won there 55 times with the most recent wins being the aspirational club eights in 2022. In 2003, Thames achieved an emphatic win in the

ending 47 years without a men's win at Henley. In 2005, Thames crews reached the finals of the

, the

Britannia Challenge Cup The Britannia Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's coxed 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 A rowing club is a club for people ...

, the

Princess Grace Challenge Cup The Princess Grace Challenge Cup is a rowing event for women's quadruple sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to female crews from all eligible rowing clubs. Two or more clubs may com ...

(for women's quadruple sculls) and the

Remenham Challenge Cup The Remenham Challenge Cup is a sport rowing, rowing event for women's eight (rowing), 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 o ...

(for women's eights). The club won the last of these – the first win by a solely Thames women's crew at Henley Royal Regatta. In 2006 came another win in the

. There then followed a period where, despite coming close, there were no Henley wins. However, in 2015 Thames won the

Thames Challenge Cup The Thames Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's eights 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 A rowing club is a club for people intere ...

for club eights, the first time the club had done so since 1934. This was followed in 2016 by a win in the

Visitors' Challenge Cup The Visitors Challenge Cup is a sport rowing, 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 all eligible rowing clubs and has similar qua ...

for intermediate coxless fours – the first win for Thames in this event. In 2017, there was an unprecedented achievement: two Thames crews reached the final of the

, with Thames A beating Thames B by 5 lengths. The following year, Thames retained the

, and won the

for the first time in its history, setting a course record in the process. There were no wins in 2019, and in 2020 the regatta did not take place owing to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2021, Thames reached four Henley finals for the first time since 2005: the

, the

and the new

Wargrave Challenge Cup The Wargrave 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 clubs (not university, college or school) and ro ...

for club women's eights, going on to win the Thames and the Wyfold (the latter for the first time since 2006). At the 2022 regatta, Thames again reached four finals – this time of the

and

. There were wins in all but the Thames, to give the club its most successful Henley Royal Regatta since 1928. In the final of the Wargrave, the Thames crew set new records to all of the timing markers. 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 more national and FISA (international) Masters Competition now on offer. A group of casual and veteran men came into existence in the 1970s; separate groups of masters oarsmen and women of different ages have since arisen from time to time.

Clubhouse

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, CBE (22 February 1917 – 23 July 2002) was a British businessman, army officer and rower. He was Chairman of James Burrough Ltd, the distiller of Beefeater Gin. Burrough rowed at Jesus College, Cambridge then at Thames Rowing Club ...

, providing additional training facilities and boat storage. In May 2011, work began on substantial alterations and improvements to the clubhouse. The clubhouse is an approved venue for wedding and civil partnership ceremonies.

Results

Wins at Henley Royal Regatta

(Composites marked with an asterisk)

Wins at Henley Women's Regatta

Recent wins at British Rowing Championships

(Composites marked with an asterisk)

References

External links

Thames Rowing Club official website

Thames Rowing Club Archive
{{authority control 1860 establishments in England History of rowing Remenham Club Founding Clubs Rowing clubs in England Rowing clubs of the River Thames Sport in the London Borough of Wandsworth Sports clubs and teams established in 1860 Tideway Rowing clubs

History

Foundation

Early successes

From the 20th Century to the present day

Clubhouse

Results

Wins at Henley Royal Regatta

Wins at Henley Women's Regatta

Recent wins at British Rowing Championships

See also

References

Further reading

External links