Abingdon School Boat Club
| Abingdon School Boat Club | |
|---|---|
 | |
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| Location | Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom |
| Home water | River Thames |
| Founded | 1830 |
| Website | http://www.abingdon.org.uk/boat_club/ |
Abingdon School Boat Club is the rowing club for Abingdon School. The club has a strong tradition of providing rowers for the Oxford University Boat Club, Cambridge University Boat Club and international teams.
History
The boat club has a long history with documentary evidence indicating rowing was a school activity in 1830.[1] Roysse's School Rowing Club (1840) became Abingdon School Boat Club.
Recent success
The 1st VIII won the "triple" in 2002 and again in 2012: the Schools' Head of the River Race, the Queen Mother's Cup at the National School's Regatta and the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. 2006's J14's A and B squads both became National School Champions, whilst the 2007 J16's won the junior Inter-Regionals, and a J16 4+ crew went to the GB 8 in the GB-France race. In 2009 the 1st VIII reached the final of the Henley Royal Regatta before losing to a "triple" winning Eton College crew.
In 2011 the 1st VIII achieved victory again at the Schools Head of the River.[2] They backed this up by winning the Princess Elizabeth Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, on the way setting a new record of 6.19 for the course in the semi final against Radley College, beating the long-standing record set by Pangbourne College in 1992 of 6.22. The 1st VIII won the Princess Elizabeth Cup in 2012 and 2013 too, setting a new course record in the 2013 final of 6.17. The last time a school won the cup for three consecutive years was Bedford School in 1948. With four Henley Royal Regatta wins to its name, the school has become one of the most successful rowing schools in the UK. Since a schools rowing event was introduced at the regatta in 1946, only Eton, Shrewsbury, St Edward's, Radley College, St Paul's School and Bedford School have won more events at the Regatta.[3]
Notable rowers
- Sir David Tanner CBE (born 1947), British Olympic Rowing coach
- Mark Andrews (born 1959), University boat race rower
- Martin Haycock (born 1973), University boat race cox
- Phil Baker (born 1975), rowing world championship medallist
- Alex Greaney (born 1975), University boat race cox
- Robin Bourne-Taylor (born 1981), Olympic rower
- George Whittaker (born 1981), rower
- Nick Brodie (born 1986), University boat race cox
- Oliver Cook (born 1990), international world champion rower
- Jamie Cook (born 1992), university boat race rower
- Felix Newman (born 1993), University boat race rower
- Ian Middleton (born 1995), university boat race cox
See also
References
- ↑ Abingdon School: Boat Club. abingdon.org.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
- ↑ Rowing: It's a thriller as Abingdon win Schools Head. The Oxford Times. 24 March 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2013
- ↑ "Results of Final Races - 1946-2003".