University College London Boat Club

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University College London Boat Club

Location| Chiswick, London, UK
Coordinates| See University of London Boat Club
Home water| Tideway
Founded| 1864 (1864)
Former names| University College and Hospitals Boat Club

Key people

* Tom Davies (President)
* Gavin Suen (Coach)
* Gautham Venu (Vice President)
* Cameron Alexander (treasurer)
* Joe Bryant (Senior Men Captain)
* Alissia Blase (Senior Women Captain)
* Sasha Lacey (Cox Captain)
* Jack Sibeon (Novice Men Captain)
* Franky Slater (Novice Women Captain)

Membership| 100 (approx)
Affiliations| British Rowing, United Hospitals Boat Clubs
Website| www.uclbc.com

University College London Boat Club (UCLBC) is a rowing club on the River Thames, based at Hartington Road, Chiswick.[1]

The club is one of University College London's largest student societies, with over 100 formal members. The club is highly successful and has a rich heritage and has a stated annual goal of achieving a top 10 placement for each squad at the British Universities Rowing events including the Head of the River in March and the Regatta in May. It also aims to qualify as many crews as possible to race at the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta and Henley Women's Regatta.

The club currently trains under the coaching team of Gavin Suen, Alan 'Woody' Sherman and Luke 'Gnome' Goodier with assistant coaching from King Chalapati. It accepts both experienced and novice oarsmen and women (providing they are current students at University College London). Teams train most of the time in the UCL gym on campus, and also at the University of London boathouse in Chiswick. The club also organises a number of social events and balls throughout the year.

There is an active alumni club, The Bentham Boat Club, which maintains an active involvement with the student rowers, providing valuable coaching and mentorship. Bentham field crews at all the major regattas and can also be found competing at European and World Masters Championships.

## History

[edit]

### Early and Inter-war history of the Club

[edit]

Founded in 1864, University College London Boat Club was not actually registered as a separate and distinct entity from the College itself until 1871.

It is believed that the club's first race was recorded on 24 May 1864 as a race between itself and Guy's RC. UCL does not appear in any rowing almanacs from around 1886 so it is believed that the sport may have enjoyed a brief period of popularity thanks to a number of enthusiasts at the College. The college begins to appear frequently in such almanacs from around 1921 and it is believed that this is the time at which the sport gained real popularity amongst the students. From around this time, UCL became one of the largest contributors to University of London Boat Club eights.

The club enjoyed the successes of many frequent Allom Cup wins throughout the 1930s. After this date there are very few open regatta or head wins listed under the club's name as it experienced a brief period of inactivity during the inter-war period.

### First Henley appearance

[edit]

University College London made its own debut at Henley Royal Regatta in 1933 when the College lost to Reading RC in the Thames Cup. Again the club raced in the 1950 Thames cup and lost but only after a fierce battle with Leeds University which was eventually lost by no more than a canvas. The report for this race reads as follows:

"UC&H started at 39, were not below 35 throughout and finished at 39. They led by ¼ length at the ¼ mile and by ½ length at the ½ mile. Leeds starting at 38 and settling to 33, closed up, took the lead after Fawley and had 1/3 length at the Mile"

Over the following few years rowing at UCL took a turn for the worse and contributions to University of London crews diminished significantly to the point at which only one or two 'University' men would make the cut each year. The club reported very few victories between 1950 and 1957 and only racked up one significant victory in the Walton Regatta. Furthermore, the club's ranking in the Tideway Head fell below 60th place; a dismal showing for one of the 'great' British university clubs. At the same time however University of London rowing experienced a period of renaissance which saw them post their first Henley win in the 1961 Thames Cup.

Modest signs of recovery in College rowing were apparent by 1962. In this year UCL crews rowed to 52 place in the Tideway head and in 1965 managed to post a result of 43rd in the same race. This period of recovery was short lived as just one year later the club dived to 198th place in the Head.

### The club's golden age

[edit]

With the arrival of Latymer Upper School's famed cox Jeff Easton at the College the club's fortunes really turned around. Jeff, who had coxed the school's grand eight and Prince Philip four went on to cox the College's 1972 first eight to victory in the novice division of the Men's Winter Eights. His experience with the Leander Club made him an excellent coach for the club.

In 1973 the club's ladies presented an impressive spectacle at the Ladies' henley Regatta. This Henley performance represented a major step up in standards and in 1975 the club rose to 19th in the Tideway Head, reaching the best position since 1953 despite competing against stronger opposition.

In 1975 having already beaten Leander Club a University College London eight went on to set a new Fawley Record of 3 min 18 sec against Potomac Boat Club of the United States in the semi-final of the Wyfold Cup. Despite ultimately winning, Potomac went on to lose the final.

In 1977, UCL's first and second eights finished 15th and 13th respectively in the Tideway Head; the club then went on to enter three crews in the 1978 Henley Royal Regatta. These were all significant achievements for the club and truly represented the peak of Easton's (now Dr Easton) successes.

### 1980s to the present

[edit]

Starting from the early 1980s the club experienced a steep decline in its fortunes. By 1981 UCL had dropped to 113 in the Tideway Head and had failed to qualify for both the Ladies' and Visitors' Cups at Henley. From the early 1980s up until 1996 there were very few entries to Henley Regatta; in 1991 the club did not even manage to enter a crew in the Tideway head. This was again the case in 1994. UCLBC finally made a comeback to the world of elite competitive club rowing in 1995 when they finally re-qualified for the Temple Cup at Henley Royal Regatta which was lost in the first heat.

The club had since its foundation been known as the 'University College and Hospitals Boat Club' or UC&H, this was finally changed in 1988 to the more up to date and accurate 'University College London Boat Club'. The British Rowing club registration code for which is UCL.

The club's 1997 entry to Henley was slightly better though, with University College winning their first round heat of the Temple Cup by 1/3 length from Lady Margaret, but Harvard, a select crew, proved to be far too strong in the next round.

Since 1997 the club has experienced ups and downs but is now recognised throughout both London and the UK as a relatively successful club. 2008–09 was one of the most successful years for the club – both the Women's 4+ and the Men's 8+ qualified for Henley, with the men making it through to the Thursday after beating University of Reading "Easily". The Women's 8+ had a strong race at the Head, and the Men fielded 3 crews with the 1st 8 finishing 78th.

2011–12 was another good year for the club, particularly for the men's top boats. Starting with a top 12 finish in the international VIII's event Basel Head. Back in London, the club went on to dominate the intercollegiate Allom Cup, winning the cup itself (senior men's VIII's) and the senior and intermediate men's IV events. At The Head of the River Race 2012 the club finished 88th, a fairy good result considering several injuries within the squad. At Henley Royal Regatta, the club qualified for the Temple Challenge Cup and made it through to Thursday after beating Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club.

## Future prospects of the club

[edit]

In recent years the Club has expressed its desire to both expand membership of the Bentham Boat Club (UCL alumni rowing club) and build a new dedicated boat house somewhere on the Tideway which could provide a dedicated alternative to the current facilities used by the club at the University of London Boat Club's boathouse at Chiswick. UCL Boat Club aims to continue improving and rise to the top of the pile of both student rowing in London, and UCL sports clubs.

## See also

[edit]

* Rowing on the River Thames
* University of London Boat Club
* University rowing (UK)
* UCL Union

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Club details". British Rowing.

## External links

[edit]

* University College London Boat Club
* University College London Union

* v
* t
* e

University College London

Academic activities

| Faculties, schools
and groupings|

* Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Slade School of Fine Art)
* Faculty of Brain Sciences
* Division of Psychology and Language Sciences
* Faculty of the Built Environment (The Bartlett)
* Faculty of Engineering Sciences
* School of Energy and Resources
* School of Management
* Faculty of Laws
* Faculty of Life Sciences
* School of Pharmacy
* Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences
* Faculty of Medical Sciences
* Medical School
* Faculty of Population Health Sciences
* Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences
* School of Slavonic and East European Studies
* Institute of Education
* Neuroscience

|

Centres and
departments|

* Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis
* Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership
* Centre for Digital Humanities
* Centre for the History of Medicine
* Centre for Neuroimaging
* The Constitution Unit
* Department of Information Studies
* Department of Philosophy
* Department of Science and Technology Studies
* Department of Space and Climate Physics
* EPPI-Centre
* London Centre for Nanotechnology
* London Knowledge Lab
* Slade Centre for Electronic Media in Fine Art
* Urban Laboratory

Institutes and
laboratories|

* Ear Institute
* Eastman Dental Institute
* Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
* Institute of Archaeology
* Institute for Global Health
* Institute of Jewish Studies
* Institute of Making
* Institute of Neurology
* Institute of Ophthalmology
* Institute of Security and Crime Science
* Pedestrian Accessibility and Movement Environment Laboratory

Other|

* Edwards Professor of Egyptian Archaeology and Philology
* Grote Professor of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic
* Pender Chair
* Papers from the Institute of Archaeology
* Prize Lecture in Life and Medical Sciences
* Public Archaeology
* Quain Professor
* Ramsay Memorial Professor of Chemical Engineering
* Slade Professor of Fine Art
* Transcribe Bentham

University

| Campus|

* Bloomsbury
* Bloomsbury Theatre
* Church of Christ the King
* Euston Road
* Gordon Square
* Gower Street
* Gray's Inn Road
* Halls of residence
* Here East
* Holmbury St Mary
* Main Building
* Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology
* Queen Square
* Somers Town
* Tavistock Square
* Tottenham Court Road
* UCL Observatory
* UCL East
* Woburn Square

|

People|

* List of notable people
* Michael Spence (Provost)

Student life|

* UCL Boat Club
* The Cheese Grater
* University College Opera
* Pi Media
* Rare FM
* Royal Free, University College and Middlesex Medical Students RFC
* Students' Union UCL

Other|

* Citrus Saturday
* UCL Business
* Filming at UCL
* History
* Rivalry with King's College London
* Third-oldest university in England

Affiliates

| Medical|

* Francis Crick Institute
* Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
* Great Ormond Street Hospital
* Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
* Moorfields Eye Hospital
* Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
* The Royal Free Hospital
* Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital
* UCLH/UCL Biomedical Research Centre
* UCL Partners
* University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
* Eastman Dental Hospital
* Hospital for Tropical Diseases
* National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
* Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine
* Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital
* UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre
* University College Hospital
* University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street
* Whittington Hospital

|

Other|

* Alan Turing Institute
* Anna Freud Centre
* Association of Commonwealth Universities
* European Network for Training Economic Research
* Golden triangle
* Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
* League of European Research Universities
* Russell Group
* Science and Engineering South
* Thomas Young Centre
* UCL Academy
* University College School
* University of London

* Category
* Commons

* v
* t
* e

United Kingdom rowing clubs

Clubs|

* Aberdeen
* Abingdon
* Agecroft
* Ancholme
* Auriol Kensington
* Avon County
* Bann
* Barn Elms
* Bedford
* Bewdley
* Bewl Bridge
* Birmingham
* Bournemouth
* Bradford
* Bristol Ariel
* Broxbourne
* Burton Leander
* Burway
* Cambois
* Cambridge '99
* Cantabrigian
* Castle Semple
* Chester-le-Street
* Christchurch
* City of Bristol
* City of Cambridge
* City of Oxford
* City of Sheffield
* Clyde
* Clydesdale
* Curlew
* Cygnet & Barnes Bridge Ladies
* Dart Totnes
* Derby
* Durham
* East India Club Rowing Section
* Eton Excelsior
* Evesham
* Exeter
* Falcon
* Furnivall
* Fulham Reach
* Glasgow
* Globe
* Gloucester
* Grosvenor
* Guildford
* Henley
* Hereford
* Hexham
* Hinksey
* Hollingworth Lake
* Inverness
* Isle of Ely
* Itchen Imperial
* Kingston
* Lancaster
* Lea
* Leander
* Leeds
* Leicester
* Llandaff
* Loch Lomond
* London
* London Otters
* Maidenhead
* Maidstone Invicta
* Marlow
* Medway Towns
* Minerva Bath
* Molesey
* Mortlake Anglian & Alpha
* Monmouth
* Nautilus
* Newark
* Nithsdale
* Northwich
* Norwich
* NCRA
* Nottingham
* Nottingham & Union
* Paignton
* Pengwern
* Peterborough City
* Poplar Blackwall and District
* Putney Town
* Quintin
* Reading
* Rob Roy
* Ross
* Royal Chester
* Runcorn
* St Andrew
* St Ives
* St Neots
* Shanklin Sandown
* Shiplake Vikings
* Sons of the Thames
* Southampton BTC
* Southampton Coalporters
* Staines
* Star Club and Bedford Star
* Stirling
* Stourport
* Stratford-upon-Avon
* Strathclyde Park
* Tees
* Thames RC
* Thames Tradesmen
* Tideway Scullers School
* Trafford
* Trent
* Trentham
* Twickenham
* Tyne
* Tynemouth
* Upper Thames
* Vesta
* Walbrook (Teddington)
* Walton
* Wallingford
* Warrington
* Warwick
* Weybridge
* Weybridge Ladies
* Worcester
* York City

Universities|

* Aberdeen
* Anglia Ruskin
* Bath
* Bangor
* Birmingham
* Bristol
* Durham
* East Anglia
* Edinburgh
* Exeter
* Glasgow
* Gloucester Hartpury
* Hertfordshire
* Imperial College
* Kent
* King's College
* Lancaster
* Leeds
* London
* Queen Mary
* Newcastle
* Nottingham
* Nottingham Trent
* Oxford Brookes
* Queen's Belfast
* Reading
* Robert Gordon
* St Andrews
* Sheffield
* Southampton
* Stirling
* Sunderland
* Swansea
* UCL
* Warwick
* West of England
* York St John

Oxford University|

* Men
* Isis
* Lightweight (men)
* Women
* Osiris
* Lightweight (women)
* Tethys
* Balliol
* Brasenose
* Christ Church
* Corpus Christi
* Exeter
* Green Templeton
* Hertford
* Jesus
* Keble
* Lady Margaret Hall
* Linacre
* Lincoln
* Magdalen
* Mansfield
* Merton
* New College
* Oriel
* Osler House
* Pembroke
* Queen's
* Regent’s Park
* Somerville
* St Anne's
* St Antony's
* St Benet's
* St Catherine's
* St Edmund Hall
* St Hilda's
* St Hugh's
* St John's
* St Peter's
* Trinity
* University
* Wadham
* Wolfson
* Worcester

Cambridge University|

* Men
* Goldie
* Lightweight (men)
* Women
* Blondie
* Caius
* Christ's
* Churchill
* Clare
* Clare Hall
* Corpus Christi
* Darwin
* Downing
* Emmanuel
* First and Third Trinity
* Fitzwilliam
* Girton
* Homerton
* Hughes Hall
* Jesus
* King’s
* Lady Margaret
* Lucy Cavendish
* Magdalene
* Murray Edwards
* Newnham
* Pembroke
* Peterhouse
* Queens'
* Robinson
* Selwyn
* Sidney Sussex
* St Catharine's
* St Edmund's
* Trinity Hall
* Wolfson

Alumni|

* 1829 Boat Club
* Bacon
* Bentham
* Bluefriars
* Bosporos
* Crabtree
* Eton Vikings
* Griffen
* Martyrs
* Ortner
* Queen's Tower
* Taurus
* Tawe Phoenix
* Tyrian
* Ursus

Schools|

* Aberdeen Schools
* Abingdon
* AB Severn Rowing Club
* Bedford
* Bedford Girls'
* Bedford Modern
* Bradford GS
* Canford
* Claires Court
* Dulwich
* Durham
* Emanuel
* Eton
* George Heriot's
* George Watson's
* Glasgow Academy
* Glasgow Schools
* Grange School
* Great Marlow
* Hampton
* Headington
* King's Canterbury
* King's Worcester
* King's Chester
* King's College School, Wimbledon
* King's Ely
* Kingston Grammar
* Lady Eleanor Holles
* Latymer Upper
* Merchant Taylors'
* Monkton Combe
* Monmouth
* Monmouth Comprehensive
* Monmouth Girls
* Pangbourne
* Queen Elizabeth
* Radley
* RGS High Wycombe
* RGS Worcester
* St Edward's
* St Leonard's
* St Paul's
* St Paul's Girls'
* Reading Blue Coat
* Shiplake
* Shrewsbury
* Sir William Borlase
* Sir William Perkin's
* Surbiton High School
* Tiffin
* Westminster
* Winchester
* Windsor Boys'
* Wycliffe

Notable per
freestanding article
policy & defunct|

* Argonaut
* Thames Club
* St George's

Overseas Territories|

* Calpe
* Mediterranean (both Gibraltar)

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