Oxford Brookes University Boat Club (known as Brookes especially verbally and as OBUBC in formal print) is the

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

club of Oxford Brookes University,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Its large base is on the longest reach of the non-tidal parts of the Thames, Distances given in km at Wallingford, in Oxfordshire – about of easily rowable, little-congested river. The club has been very successful at pre-training and co-training many Olympic competitors including those for Great Britain who won 6 golds at Olympics spread across three consecutive games, starting with the games of 2000. From 1995 into 2007, inclusive, Brookes won its record 13 consecutive British Universities Sport Association (annual BUSA games) men's eight wins.

History

The club was founded in 1978 as the Oxford Polytechnic Boat Club (OPBC) where it was given its first home with Oxford Falcon Rowing and Canoeing Club and begun to enter competitions as a composite Polytechnic/Falcon crew. In the 2020 work ''The Umpires' Handbook'' the blade colours of the club are: burgundy,

navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

, as is the kit. Due to the rarity of two of these colours the cream is in some kit and/or blades left as white and the burgundy (13% blue, 50% red) made up as maroon.

Path to a 1993 Henley Royal Regatta cup

In 1981, OPBC made its first qualification to Henley Royal Regatta (HRR). The crew was knocked out in the first round of The Ladies Challenge Plate The club geared up in equipment, facilities, its student appeal, scholarships and coaching by 2000. The first win for the men at HRR being the

Temple Challenge Cup The Temple Challenge Cup is one of the eights races at Henley Royal Regatta at Henley-on-Thames on the River Thames in England. It is open to male crews from universities, colleges or schools. Combined entries from two colleges of the same un ...

in 1993.

2000 to 2008 Olympians

2000 marked the first Olympic success of a chunk of the men's squad:

Ben Hunt-Davis (Francis) Benedict Hunt-Davis MBE (born 15 March 1972) is a former British competition rower and an Olympic champion. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2001 New Year Honours list. Early life Hunt-Davis was ed ...

Fred Scarlett Fred Scarlett MBE (born 29 April 1975 in Ashford) is an English Olympic gold medalist as a British rower. He took up rowing at The King's School Canterbury, and was Captain of Boats in his final year. At Oxford Brookes University, he won ...

and Rowley Douglas won gold medals in the Men's Eights at Sydney. Steve Williams achieved gold at the World Championships, along with Alex Partridge who won 23 gold. Williams went on to win gold at the Athens Olympics and did so four years later. He won a World Championship event in 2005 with Partidge. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics Alastair Heathcote, Tom Lucy and Partridge won silver. Carla Ashford and Caroline O'Connor powered into fifth in the final of the women's eight.

2009 to date, highlights

In 2009, Brookes beat

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

to the

Prince Albert Challenge Cup The Prince Albert Challenge Cup is an event at Henley Royal Regatta. It is contested by Men's Student Crews in Coxed fours. It has been held since 2004. Creation in 2004 The Britannia Challenge Cup was originally presented in 1969 as an event ...

at HRR.

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

saw further success with the Chambers brothers of

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and

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

gaining two silver medals in the . Partridge gained a bronze in the M. In 2014, Brookes brought HRR's

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

back to Britain for the first time since 2006, winning against the freshmen crew from Browen. They repeated this two years later – atoning their narrow quarter-final loss in 2015 (deemed 'the Temple final on the Friday') to eventual winners A.S.R. Nereus (of the Netherlands) – by beating the 2V crew from Harvard. In 2017, Brookes went one step further again – after setting a new course record in Ghent, as well as a domestic national record of 5:30 at Eton Dorney. They won the Temple with an entirely new crew. Thus they won for the third year in four, and snatched the

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 standard ...

(for men) with the 2016 crew. This particular double at HRR was a first for any university boat club. In 2021, the club won the blue riband event at the HRR, the

Grand Challenge Cup The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing competition for men's eights. It is the oldest and best-known event 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 ...

. They won five other events: the Ladies', Stewards', Silver Goblets, the

Island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

and the Visitors'.

Boat House

The Oxford Brookes New Boat House sits on a 10 km stretch of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

that is classed as one of the best non-tidal stretches of water in the country. This length, width and quality of the water has been a key factor in Brookes' success, allowing both men's and women's crews to train together, in an enjoyable but highly competitive environment. In June 2013 marked the opening of the new boat house on the thames designed by

architects An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Spratley Studios. The vision was to expand and update an outgrown, outdated building to produce a state-of-the-art facility, fit to support the demands of World and Olympic medallists and create an environment in which top-class athletes can shine. The contemporary interpretation of local agricultural buildings, compliant with stringent environmental and ecological benchmarks, underpins the concept. The simplistic gable form echoes a resplendent Tithe Barn on the banks of the Thames, a discreet silhouette within the landscape. The new facilities include land-based training areas, extra boat storage and large changing rooms.

Taurus Boat Club

Taurus Boat Club is the Alumni club of Oxford Brookes University. The Taurus Boat Club is for past oarsmen and oarswomen that were former alumni of Oxford Polytechnic & Oxford Brookes University with the allowance of current Brookes welcomed to join. Taurus won the Britannia Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in 2013.Taurus Boat Club
Accessed 2015-04-23

Honours

British champions

Key = 2, 4, 8 (crew size), x (sculls), - (coxless), + (coxed)

Henley Royal Regatta

References

External links

Oxford Brookes University Boat Club websiteBrookes Sport websiteTaurus Boat Club
{{United Kingdom rowing clubs History of rowing Rowing clubs in England University and college rowing clubs in the United Kingdom Rowing clubs in Oxfordshire Rowing clubs of the River Thames