CHAIRMAN’S VIEW

When I come down to the Club for erging and sculling there is always a great feeling of purpose and intent, with the gym often packed and the boathouse largely empty of shells, such is the current level of active members. Stu and his team are doing a great job of managing and coaching a larger than ever squad and efforts were recently rewarded at the Quintin Head where LRC took the headship, had four men’s eights in the top 30, high showings in the Women’s Champs and winners of Women’s Masters C. As I write, the Boustead and Rayner results are in. What a gut buster for the M1, a reverse of last year’s result, which could have gone either way. The W1 have made great progress losing to TRC by 12 seconds, making up significant ground over last year’s verdict. Well done to all who represented the Club.

As well as the strength and depth at squad level, we have increasing activity in the non-squad rowing. Jason and Saskia are running the racing Masters, often boating 30-40 people across the group. The RSC is aware that we need to constantly focus on the organisation of all our rowing members and Miles Preston has kindly agreed to undertake a review of the non-squad and is working closely with Rob Porter on this project (more on that below). His recent survey resulted in 160 responses which shows the engagement of our active members. Thank you to Miles for taking this on.

Another sign of increased member participation was the oversubscribed annual dinner which I was sorry to miss due to a holiday clash. The pictures of the event on Instagram look great, and thanks go to George and his team for managing our comms.

In other news, we continue our clubhouse maintenance and development with progress being made on the balcony and plumbing programmes.

I have just christened my new LRC etched glass tankard, appropriately enough with a pint of London Pride. These tankards have been produced by our President, Mike Baldwin (see Mike’s piece below) and are available for purchase through My Clubhouse for the reasonable sum of £45.00.

Let’s hope the worst of the winter weather is behind us. I wish everyone enjoyable and successful rowing as spring approaches.

Bill Baker
Chairman, London Rowing Club

CAPTAIN’S REPORT

2025 has kicked off in strong fashion at LRC both on and off the water and it has been great to see members returning the Club for training and socialising, despite the dreary January weather.

Already the squad has secured some excellent results at Quintin Head with men’s crews finishing first, third, fifth and tenth and the women’s crews placing second, third, sixth and seventh. Shout out to the masters women too who came first in their category. Following this, two of our men’s crews took part in a fixture against Leander, with both crews winning each piece, and two of our women’s crews raced in a fixture against University of London Boat Club, making progress over each race to close the gap between LRC and the ULBC students.

Sunday, 9th February saw the return of the coveted Boustead & Rayner between London and our local rivals down the road. Three Men’s VIII and three Women’s VIII took part in the full course race, with all crews racing very well against the competition. A big congratulations to the second Men’s VIII who secured a win by a length. Commiserations to the Boustead Cup crew who narrowly lost out winning by a canvas – watching the finish of this race on the river’s edge at the finish was tantalising to say the least. All women’s crews made a big step on from recent races and closed the gap significantly between the rival crews compared to last year. A very well done to everyone who raced, you have done the Club proud and we look forward to seeing what else is in store as we move to spring.

A huge thanks to everyone who helped organised and volunteered on the day for the races so far this year. I really appreciate your time and efforts.

It was wonderful to see so many faces from across the Club at the annual dinner at the end of January, looking back over the previous year, celebrating the Club’s growing success and catching up with friends. I thoroughly enjoyed guest speaker Emily Craig MBE’s candid speech about her rowing journey since her last talk at the Club post-Tokyo 2021 to winning gold at Paris last year. Her experience demonstrates how much of a work in progress achieving victory in rowing can be. A big thanks to the events team who organised the night, it was a great success.

We are now receiving call outs for volunteer launch drivers for WeHoRR, HoRR, Vets HoRR and Schools Head of the River – please drop me an email if you have the relevant launch driving experience and wish to volunteer.

I am looking forward to the upcoming races in February and March, including the fixture against the Oxford University men’s crew on Sunday 16 February – one to come down for and see! I hope everyone manages to train well, keep warm and healthy as we push through the last weeks of winter.

Rob Porter
Captain, London Rowing Club

IRREGULARS REPORT

As per usual, the call went out early in the New Year for enthusiastic sweep rowers to form an eight for the VHORR on the 23rd March. We must try and get this going earlier in the season but somehow the Fours Head and then Christmas get in the way.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to introduce more sweep rowing in our weekly outings during the course of the year – next year’s pledge!!

Anyhow, eight good men and true threw their hats into the ring and away we went. I must add that we have tremendous support from Miles Preston, our coach, and Diana Bartley our stylish launch driver. Miles sets us a training programme for every week and we are hard at it!

The crew is Mike Baldwin, Andrew Boyle, Mike Newsom Davis, Ed Gormley, Philip Carre, Eddie Markes, Giles Bedford and George Dimitropoulos – an illustrious bunch age range 44 to 80!!

We are very fortunate to have a plethora of willing coxes - and extremely good ones at that. Thanks must go to Edwin Chan, Henry Dunlop and last Saturday we had Rose Lewis (on the eve of her coxing the Boustead 1st Eight no less ). Julie Hogg and Howard MacDonald have also said they will be willing to help. We are spoilt indeed!!

Initially, a tank session was held at Barn Elms to remind ourselves of stroke technique and we are now on the water once a week and in the gym twice a week – serious!!

Otherwise, attendance at Sunday morning outings has been good with 4 quads being put out on several occasions – one such was Sunday, 12th January – a few members had shot off in case anyone is counting!

We have also had a special gym session on Sunday, 26th January. Thanks go to Hamzat and our Captain, Rob Porter, for arranging this. The focus of this session was to concentrate on flexibility and core strength and then for members to take exercises away with them to do in their own time. I think everyone who attended appreciated the session, which was held at 9am – normal 10am outings took place afterwards.

Onwards and upwards!

Eddie Markes

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

See more detail for these events, visit our Calendar of Events…

MASTERS REPORT

First, we are very happy to report that the Women’s C 8+ secured a strong win at Quintin Head 2025. They were up against a tough competition but rowed strongly and came home with the win. A huge congratulations to the crew!

Crew 248 - Winner of W Mas C 8+: Chloe Ramambason (Cox), Caroline Newbury, Elinor George, Angela Hitchens, Ulrike Forster, Alexandra Hammerberg, Elizabeth Hichens, Anna Lhommet and Soraya Nidai.

On the men’s side, unfortunately not featuring at Quintin Head owing to the waitlist, we have seen great participation across the group, featuring regular eights on Sunday mornings to engage in some side-by-side race practice with matched crews. Who doesn’t like a bit of friendly competition?! The group remains committed to the season ahead.

Further afield, Michael Cannon and Will Randall raced at the Durham Small Boats Head at the start of February, with kegs fresh from the Annual Dinner in Putney a couple of nights before. Seeing London RC on the entries list this far north certainly raised a few eyebrows (wye aye!), but Mike was able to convince the Durham ARC committee that a crew comprising a Durham University alumnus and a North Yorkshire resident would be enough to justify lending us a boat for the masters doubles. Mike knows the course well - his first race on the Wear was 26 years ago - so he steered an excellent line through the notoriously tricky turn under the Elvet Bridge in both races of the day.

In the first division Mike raced the Masters single, coming a close second, thwarted by the generous time bonus given to his older competitions. In the second division, our Masters double posted a strong time, with enough to absorb the handicap differential of the other crews, to take the win.

Michael Cannon (B) and Will Randall (S) under Elvet Bridge.

Our next race is at Molesey Vets Head on 15th February. Not one of our usual races "on the circuit", but it is an opportunity to race elsewhere. We have entered the following crews from across the men's group, hoping to score at least one pennant:

Best of luck to all racing. See you out there!

GLASS TANKARDS

At the time of the Club’s 100thAnniversary, some glass tankards were produced, with a rather simple engraving, and this was repeated for the 150th in 2006, when some more made, with a very elegant design created by Club member Peter Cusack.

The latter were most prized possessions, but some members were unsuccessful in acquiring one before they sold out, and some of the lucky owners had the misfortune of their beautiful mugs encountering solid objects, such as floors, which were less brittle than they were. So, there was an undoubted demand for more to be available.

Julian Ebsworth and I have conspired to get some new tankards produced, but with the Club crest engraved, rather than the anniversary design, and with a slightly different, but very elegant (we believe) shape. We think it is a good idea for the Club to have some upmarket merchandise available, quite apart from members’ simple wish to own one. The supply is, at present, quite limited, and they would only be available for collection from the Clubhouse.

With a modest markup for the Club, they cost £45 and they are available now from the website.

Mike Baldwin

CLUB SUPPER AND WOMEN'S HEAD CEILIDH

The next Club Supper will be taking place on Wednesday 5th March.

All club members are encouraged to attend the supper including Squad, non squad rowers, Masters and Irregulars, and their guests. The bar will be open from 19:00for all members attending the supper. Dinner will be served at 20:00.

Tickets are £28 per person via My Club House. Please send any dietary requirements to events@londonrc.org.uk

Please sign up to club supper using the link below:

https://members.londonrc.org.uk/Events/Calendar/View?id=155

Please use this link to book tickets for the Women’s Head Ceilidh:

https://members.londonrc.org.uk/Events/Calendar/View?id=154

Annabel Lawrence

STRIKING GOLD AT THE RIVER AND ROWING MUSEUM

After ten successful years as the Founder and CEO of Fulham Reach BC, LRC member and former captain Steve O’Connor is now the director of the River and Rowing Museum in Henley. On 6th February he organised an event entitled “Striking Gold – the stories behind the GB Rowing Team’s path to gold at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.” Martin Cross compered a panel comprising Naomi Riches, Garry Herbert, Greg Searle, Sir David Tanner, Phelan Hill, Annamarie Phelps and Alan Campbell.

The panel described the relatively amateur approach in their early years. Gary said he acted as a relationship councillor for Greg and his brother Jonny in 1992. On one occasion an argument prompted Greg to dive into the water and swim to shore from the middle of a rowing lake. David assured us that the cheques he used to collect from athletes at airports to cover travel expenses were all made out to the ARA. Gary said that crews succeeded in spite of the system, while Annamarie thought there was no system, particularly for women. Resources went to crews that demonstrated success on the water. Greg agreed and said that the real story over the last 30 years was the success of women’s and paralympic rowing. He thought that the accomplishments of the men had been broadly consistent.

From 1997 National Lottery funding brought additional coaching, equipment and the facilities at Caversham. Phelan said Caversham brought everyone together and reduced the antagonisms felt by club-based crews. Greg said the ability to row fulltime placed British crews on an equal footing with rowers in Italy and Eastern Europe, who had been competing during national service. Mike Williams commented to me that funding enabled athletes to extend their rowing careers and that Caversham provided the catering to power the squad as training schedules expanded. Immediate access to physios kept athletes in training and got them to start lines. Internal competition was a motivator for Alan as performance of all crews was monitored in percentages. He did the same mileage as the eight in his single. Phelan emphasised that it was not all about money and said that there were many examples in sport of spending not bringing success. David acknowledged the impact of technology such as the analysis of stroke traces.

Greg initially had reservations about Jürgen Gröbler’s appointment in 1991 because he disliked East Germany’s approach to sport. However, he later appreciated the team structure that Jürgen established. Gary thought that Greg would have won additional gold medals if he had embraced the system earlier. The panel discussed the extent to which training schedules could be personalised. Greg felt the eight’s training in 2012 was too inflexible. Phelan said there was more personalisation in the 2016 eight. Naomi said that personalisation was essential in Paralympic rowing.

The introduction of the World Class Starts programme in 2001 broadened the base of athletes. The panel wondered if the relatively poor performance of the team in Tokyo was a blip or a fundamental failure. Greg pointed out the number of retirements after Rio. Experience counts. He said the difference between the U23 and Olympic levels caused the squad to operate on an eight-year cycle and so gaps could appear. Phelan said that many members of the Tokyo team were successful in Paris.

Looking to the future, it was accepted that funding models might change. Gary said that the IOC and the BBC wanted to broaden the appeal of the games and so the more exciting 1500m distance was likely to remain. He said rowing would have to develop new formats. Alan highlighted the inclusion of beach sprint rowing in the 2028 games. He also bemoaned the lack of single sculling in the Olympic team, which he thought could deliver a good return on investment. Louise Kingsley, GB Performance Director, was in the audience and told him to watch this space.

Annamarie said that we were in the very early stages of gathering data to understand the potential of women athletes. She said more research would be undertaken on women’s health and physiology in addition to kit and equipment.

If you would like to be informed about similar events and support Steve O’Connor’s development of the Museum, please follow this link https://rrm.co.uk/support/

Andrew Boyle

A THAMES ROW CHALLENGE

Over two days, 24th/25th February, a crew of 4 London Regional Managers from Travelodge will be attempting to row a total of 60,000m in aid of the British Heart Foundation. They aim to cover 30,000m each day to reflect the 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests suffered in the UK each year and hope that their row will raise awareness of heart health. This is a huge physical challenge for a crew who are new to rowing and their resolve will be sorely tested. Please help them to reach their target of £8,000 by donating through Just Giving.

In partnership with TopRow London, I am coaching these non-rowers with getting to grips with rowing and their weekly training, and coxing them in a TopRow boat to cover this distance in around 3 weeks' time! Please help them to reach their target of £8,000 by donating through Just Giving.

Donations can be made here at: https://www.justgiving.com/page/rowingchallenge2025?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=WA

Bob Silver

*Travelodge crew L-R: Alan Harfield, Luke Jones, Paul Madden and Ryan Alcock.*

*Travelodge crew enjoying the early mornings.*

*Travelodge’s Alan Harfield getting to grips with the erg.*

NEW MEMBERS

We would like to welcome the following new members to the Club:

Charlie Bay
Bryan Chen
Costanza Giovene di Girasole
Wilf Kimberly
Giles McCelland
Caitriona Moran
Ava Semeniuk

We hope you will enjoy being part of the London Rowing Club community and will help us build an ever happier and more successful club.

We are always pleased to have more members so, if you know of anyone who you think might like to join the Club, please either let us know or encourage them to get in touch with us themselves.

There is information on becoming a member on our website or you can email the Club’s Membership Secretary:

Andrew Boyle
Honorary Secretary, London Rowing Club

PETER JONES (1942-2024) OBITUARY

Peter, who died aged 82 on 5th December, was a leading cox and school rowing coach in the 1960s - 80s and a member of the Club for 61 years.

Liverpool-born and bred, he won a major scholarship to read mathematics at Wadham College, Oxford, matriculating in 1960. He coxed several Wadham crews and, we believe, was trialled for OUBC. He gained a first class degree (in maths) in 1963 and, on going down, started a teaching career at Emanuel School and joined London in September of that year.

To start with Peter lived in Ruvigny Mansions (where Simon Rippon and Desmond Hampton - of happy memory - had flats), but in due course he moved in to the Club as a Resident. He coxed London crews fom1965 until 1971 (with a break in 1967);6 throughout his coxing career he maintained a consistent weight of 8 st. 3 to 6 lbs. He coxed theLRC Grand crew in 1965 and 5 Thames Cup crews thereafter, reaching the final of the latter in 1970. Contemporaries in the Club remember him for his coxing excellence and for what he brought to the crews.

In 1974, Peter stepped in at the last moment to cox a Belgian crew, Antwerpse Roeivereniging, which won the Thames Cup after a terrific race against Harvard. We do not know the full story but the HRR office have confirmed that his name appeared in the Sunday programme, even if for some reason he is not mentioned in the HRR record of races for that year. Around this time he also appeared as a cox in the film Magic Christian, very much a comedy film of its day with Peter Sellers and other luminaries. It featured a chaotic race and collision midships on the Tideway with Jumbo Edwards coaching in a launch in the distance – not something that Health and Safety would have tolerated at all today.

Peter was to shine though emphatically as a coach of school crews - at Emanuel; then St Stithians College, a private Methodist school outside Johannesburg 1977-83, and finally Abingdon School 1983-89. He joined Derek Drury, master of rowing at Emanuel, in his first year and was given the colts crew to coach. Peter teamed up with Paul Littleton - LRC member, later Captain and much later Committee Chairman - to provide coaching from a launch (rather than bicycles on the towpath as was usual in those days) and achieved remarkable early success: the colts crew came second equal in the Schools’ Head, four seconds behind the winners and 20 seconds faster than the school’s own first VIII. After that Peter never really looked back, and we can thank him for introducing several Emanuel oarsmen to row at LRC in the years that followed.

We may produce an account of his career as a school coach in the obituary section of the Club’s website.

Peter was in many ways his own man, but always a cheery and humorous fellow. He would have accepted that his three main interests in life were mathematics, rowing and beer. There are fond memories of regular get-togethers with chums at the Duke’s Head. He retired early from teaching in his 40s to look after his elderly parents in Liverpool. He resolutely refused to use a computer and his correspondence with successive Club membership secretaries was conducted in his minute and neat hand. Above all, he was a loyal London man.

LRC BOOK ON MEMBERS WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918

In 2018 the Club published a 110-page softback book to commemorate the 50 members who never returned from hostilities in the Great (First World) War. It was produced to mark the centenary of the Armistice in November 1918.

It has recently been decided to re-print the book, encouraged not least by the Chairman’s Review article in the November 2024 edition of The London Roar about the wartime memorabilia at the top of the entrance stairs.

The book represents a poignant reminder of the impact of the Great War upon the Club’s membership at the time. For example, half of the Thames Challenge Cup crew, half of the winning Wyfold Challenge Cup crew and half of the Junior Senior VIII from the 1914 season alone lost their lives in the next four years.

The book contains short obituaries of each of the 50 men, along with photographs, and colour images of the gallantry medals they were awarded, including seven Military Crosses, eleven Mentioned in Despatches, an OBE (Mil) and a Légion d’Honneur. It includes a Foreword by HRH Prince Philip (his last Patronal message to the Club before he passed away), and two fold-out maps of cemeteries at the back.

The graphic designer of the book was our member, Anthony Jones, and the maps were designed by Jessica Salter, our Membership Secretary at the time.

Copies of the book are available via MyClubhouse, and at the bar, or if members prefer by emailing Office@londonrc.org.uk. They cost £10 each, postage and packing extra.

A handsome addition to the bookshelf of any LRC member

Julian Ebsworth
Archivist, London Rowing Club

REPORTING SAFETY INCIDENTS

All members are reminded that if you are involved in or witness a water safety incident, you are required to report it using the following email address – safety@londonrc.org.uk

The Club will file any necessary reports on your behalf with British Rowing and the PLA. Members should not submit reports directly to either body.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

My thanks to everyone who has contributed to this edition of the London Roar. If you have an idea for an article or would be interested in submitting a piece for inclusion in a future edition, please email me on miles.preston@londonrc.org.uk

Please do not submit an article without first liaising with me.

Miles Preston
Editor of The London Roar