Kingston Rowing Club
| Kingston Rowing Club | |
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| Location | Kingston upon Thames |
| Coordinates | 51°25′8″N 0°18′20″W / 51.41889°N 0.30556°WCoordinates: 51°25′8″N 0°18′20″W / 51.41889°N 0.30556°W |
| Home water | Teddington Lock |
| Founded | 1858 |
| Affiliations | BR |
| Website |
www |
| Events | |
| Kingston Regatta, Kingston Head, Kingston Small Boats Head | |
| Notable members | |
Kingston Rowing Club (KRC) is a rowing club in England founded in 1858 and a member club of British Rowing.
The club is on the River Thames at Kingston upon Thames in an outer borough of Greater London in England downstream and north-east of Kingston Bridge and Kingston Railway Bridge. On a long wide stretch, its rowers and scullers have the final and the second longest section of the weir-controlled river.
The club caters for all levels, demonstrated by a large novice squad and social events calendar through to medalists in two consecutive Olympic Games. Kingston have produced a significant list of international level oarsmen and oarswomen throughout its history and has won events at the British Rowing Championships and Henley Royal Regatta through the years.
The club has a growing Juniors squad, developed under the ongoing British Sport Project Oarsome initiative, the main aim of which is to introduce younger rowers to the sport and the subsidiary aim of which is find and prepare future Olympians.
Kingston Rowing Club is the supporting club for Kingston Regatta which is held above Kingston Bridge. Kingston organizes Kingston Head of the River Race which is a warm-up for the national Head of the River Race on the Championship Course on the following weekend.
Facilities
The club is the racing shell rowing club in Kingston upon Thames, but also provides training boats for less competitive rowing. It is on the Kingston Reach which runs between Molesey Lock by Hampton Court down to Teddington Lock ; The reach is a long 4.82 miles (7.76 km) V-shaped stretch of the Thames and is the final and second longest section of the River Thames — the longest reach being Wallingford reach at 6.5 miles (10.5 km) in Oxfordshire.[1]
It shares the long, wide stretch with three sailing clubs upstream and downstream, the Royal Canoe Club (and The Skiff Club), Walbrook Rowing Club (the rowing club of Teddington), and school clubs of Tiffin, Kingston Grammar, and Surbiton High Schools.
History
The club started at Messenger’s Boathouse, Kingston and was housed there for three years before moving upstream. From 1861 to 1935 the club was based above the bridges on Raven's Ait in Surbiton to the south.[2][3] In 1935 the club moved downstream to premises known as the Albany Boathouse then moved to its purpose-built facilities in Canbury Gardens in 1968.
Squads
The Rowing Club is split into several different training squads.
- Senior
- Novice
- Juniors
- Students
In January 2008, Kingston University Boat Club (KUBC) was reorganised into Kingston Student Rowing Club (KSRC). This meant that KRC would take over the training and coaching from Kingston University, maintain its fleet of boats and acquire its launches. University students would now receive automatic membership of KRC and still represent the University at the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Regatta and in the University Indoor Rowing Series. [4]
- Masters which is the sport's term for all categories of older rowers beyond the 18- to 27-year-old category containing a smaller proportion of rowers of regatta-based Senior or Elite category status.
Annual events
The club organises Kingston Head of the River Race which is a warm-up for the national Head of the River Race on the Championship Course on the following weekend. The organisation is associated with Kingston Regatta (formerly Kingston Amateur Regatta) since the club's founding – the regatta predates it by a year.
The club has a regular social calendar and Remenham Club rules entitle all established members to join to the social club which is at Henley on Thames, having one of its course-side venues, in the past having contributed to its funds in this case as a founder member.
Traditions
There's a tradition which involves members dipping their club tie into a pint of Guinness. No one is allowed to clean their tie after this as it marks their first race at Henley Royal Regatta.
See also
References
- ↑ Cruising guide of the Thames Visit Thames. Accessed 3 June 2015.
- ↑ Raven's Aits shown within the Parish of Surbiton The Church of England. Accessed 3 June 2015
- ↑ Raven's Ait shown within the Post Town: Surbiton Google map. Accessed 3 June 2015
- ↑ Indoor Rowing British Rowing. Accessed 3 June 2015.
External links
| Founding Clubs | |
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| Committee |
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