Trinity College Boat Club (TCBC) is the

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 ...

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

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 ...

. The club's members are students and staff from Trinity College and, occasionally, associate members from other colleges. The boat club is based in its boathouse on

the Isis "The Isis" ( ) is an alternative name for the River Thames, used from its source in the Cotswolds until it is joined by the River Thame at Dorchester-on-Thames, Dorchester in Oxfordshire. Notably, the Isis flows through Oxford and has given i ...

, which is shared with

Lady Margaret Hall Boat Club Lady Margaret Hall Boat Club (LMHBC) is a rowing club for members and staff of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, Lady Margaret Hall (LMH), University of Oxford, Oxford. It was founded in 1976, when a women’s division was finally established. As t ...

(LMHBC),

Linacre College Boat Club Linacre College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The college was founded in 1962 and is named after Thomas Linacre (1460–1524), founder of the Royal College of Physicians as well as a distinguished re ...

and

Magdalen College Boat Club Magdalen College Boat Club (MCBC) is a rowing club for members of Magdalen College, Oxford. It is based on the Isis at Boathouse Island, Christ Church Meadow, Oxford, Oxford. History The club founded in 1859 shares a boathouse with Linacre Coll ...

History

Rowing as an organised inter-collegiate sport became increasingly popular in Oxford during the early decades of the nineteenth century; the first organised

bumps race A bumps race is a form of rowing (sport), rowing race in which a number of boats chase each other in single file, each crew attempting to catch and 'bump' the boat in front without being caught by the boat behind. The form is mainly used in C ...

s was held at around that time. A Trinity rower in 1831 by the name of

James Pycroft James Pycroft (1813 – 10 March 1895) is chiefly known for writing ''The Cricket Field'', one of the earliest books about cricket, published in 1851. Pycroft mythologised cricket as a noble, manly and essentially British activity ("Cricket is ...

detailed how the men in the crew would pay for a college boat themselves, and would levy a rate upon all members of the college to help pay for it, "it being considered that the boat and its anticipated victories were for the honour of the college generally".J. Pycroft, ‘Memoires’ Even at the outset of rowing at Trinity in the 1830s, Pycroft records in his memoirs an incident in which a scholar named Thomas Lewin "had thoughts of joining the boat, but received a hint that it would not do"; because members of the boat club were known to be uproarious, riotous and generally interested in having a good time while they studied. In 1838 Trinity join the records, which can still be seen in the college's

boathouse A boathouse (or a boat house) is a building especially designed for the storage of boats, normally smaller craft for sports or leisure use. describing the facilities These are typically located on open water, such as on a river. Often the boats ...

, and moved up three places over the week's rowing from eighth to fifth. Trinity's first rowing

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

are both depicted in the earliest known depiction of a Trinity crew, from 1842. John Cox and Edward Breedon both rowed in the sixth

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 ...

on the Westminster to Putney course in 1842. Another nineteen years passed with rowing at Trinity growing in its importance within the college, until finally during the Eights in 1861, Trinity bumped

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

Brasenose College Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

and finally

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

to go Head of the River. The run of great rowing continued until 1865, which marked the beginning of a disastrous few years of racing at Trinity. However, the period at the head was matched with a similar stretch of dominance at the top of Division One, just a few months before the start of

World War II 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 ...

in 1939. Several of Trinity's former members rowed at that time and experienced being the best of the Oxford college crews on the Isis. In addition to this, past Trinity crews were involved in many regattas outside of the college, including the

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 ...

and the Thames Regatta.

Results

*Men's Summer Eights Headship: 1861–64, 1938, 1939, 1946–49 *Men's Summer Eights Spoons: 2016 *Henley Royal Regatta

Stewards' Challenge Cup The Stewards' 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 ...

: 1949 *Henley Royal Regatta Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup : 1923 *Henley Royal Regatta

Ladies' Challenge Plate The Ladies' Challenge Plate is one of the events at Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. Crews of men's eight-oared boats below the standard of the Grand Challenge Cup can enter, although international standa ...

: 1923 *Henley Royal Regatta

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 ...

: 1894, 1898 *Henley Royal Regatta

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 ...

: 1896, 1928 *Henley Royal Regatta

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 ...

: 1895, 1897,

Equipment

Fleet

*2019 Hudson 8+ "De Jagerbomb" *2014 Filippi 8+ "Spirit of Myrtle" *2008 Empacher 8+ "Parni" *2008 Stampfli 8+ "Magnificat" *2008 Stampfli 4+ *2003 Janousek 4+ "Judith Beloff" *2000 Sims 8+ "Lady Elizabeth" *c.1990 Janousek 8+ "Richard Hillary"

Blues

Presidents

, - , 2011-12 , Matt Mair , - , 2012-13 , Charles McMillan , - , 2013-14 , Jonathan Ranstrand , - , 2014-15 , Katherine Wensley , - , 2015-16 , Lucy Martin , - , 2016-17 , Rob Jones , - , 2017-18 , Gemma Francis , - , 2018-19 , Ben de Jager , - , 2019-20 , Ben de Jager , - , 2020-21 , Charlotte Green , - , 2021-22 , Kate Adams , - , 2022-23 , Rose Faure , - , 2023-24 , Harry Walton

References

External links

* {{United Kingdom rowing clubs Rowing clubs of the University of Oxford Trinity College, Oxford 1837 establishments in England Rowing clubs in Oxfordshire Rowing clubs of the River Thames