(English: ''Royal Rowing Club of Ghent'' / French: ''Royal Club Nautique de Gand'') is a

rowing club A rowing club is a club for people interested in the sport of Rowing. Rowing clubs are usually near a body of water, whether natural or artificial, that is large enough for manoeuvering the shells (rowing boats). Clubs usually have a boat house w ...

from the

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

city of

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

founded in 1871. The association is located at the Ghent urban

Watersportbaan The Watersportbaan, official name: Nationale Watersportbaan Georges Nachez, is a five lane rowing (sport), rowing race course in the Belgium, Belgian city of Ghent. It is 2300 metres long and 76m wide and was first used in 1954. Despite most major ...

rowing course. It has an extensive international track record. Originally the association was called ''Club Nautique de Gand''.

History

KRCG won (under its old name) a silver medal at the

Rowing at the 1900 Summer Olympics At the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, four events in rowing were contested, marking the introduction of the sport to the Olympic program. At the inaugural 1896 Games, the rowing competition was cancelled due to strong winds. The 1900 regatta w ...

and at the

Rowing at the 1908 Summer Olympics At the 1908 Summer Olympics, four rowing events were contested, all for men only. Races were held at Henley-on-Thames. The competitions were held from 28 to 31 July. There was one fewer event in 1908 than 1904, after the double sculls was drop ...

and where the finalist teams took the world-record in the heavy men's eights and at the

Rowing at the 1912 Summer Olympics Rowing at the 1912 Summer Olympics featured four events, for men only. All races were held in Djurgårdsbrunnsviken from Thursday to Saturday, 17 to 19 July. Medal summary Bronze medals Bronze medals were not awarded to the losing semi fina ...

where the club won in the

single scull A single scull (or a scull) is a rowing boat designed for a single person who propels the boat with two oars, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly semi-circular in cross-section in order to minimi ...

s. In a mix with Royal Sport Nautique de Gand and one time in a homogene crew this club was 3 times winner of 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 cl ...

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...

. The club won the first ever victory of a foreign club at the Grand in a composite boat with the docks foreman's couple Visser – Molmans of the former Royal Sport Nautique de Gand, during the first years of the 20th century. In the early 1990s, Club de Gand won the

Diamond Challenge Sculls The Diamond Challenge Sculls is a rowing event for men's single sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. First run in 1844, it is open to male scullers from all eligible rowing clubs.

at Henley with the former lightweight world champion Wim Van Belleghem. It was the very first time a lightweight sculler had won this race.

International Regatta KRC Ghent

Club Ghent and Sport Ghent and their relations were also the co – founders of the three-day international regatta from 1897, the Cluysen - Ter Donck Regatta on the

Ghent–Terneuzen Canal The Ghent–Terneuzen Canal (Dutch: Kanaal van Gent naar Terneuzen), also known as the "Sea Canal" (Zeekanaal) is a canal linking Ghent in Belgium to the port of Terneuzen on the Westerschelde (Scheldt) Estuary in the Netherlands, thereby providin ...

. For the first time the leading English rowing clubs were making the trip to the continent. In the United Kingdom it was known as the May - Regatta. It was much later reinvigorated with new energy by the friends of KR Sport Gent and their Chairman's generation, Rombaut Sr. and Jr. and their team, a few days earlier on the calendar, on the current

. Until the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and in good weather conditions the Regatta, locally named ''Bootjesvaring'' was watched by up to 25'000 visitors.

National and more recent success

The club won eight consecutive national championships in the open men's eight category at

Hazewinkel The Hazewinkel is a 2,000 m rowing and regatta course belonging to Bloso in Heindonk, municipality of Willebroek, near Mechelen, Belgium. The site consists of a finishing tower, boathouses, a cafeteria and eight basic huts that house athl ...

. This generation was dominating from the mid-nineties up to early 21st century in Belgian heavyweight men's rowing. In this period they were successful on the Heineken Roeivierkamp on the River Amstel in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. The crown on that performance was winning at the 2001

Thames Challenge Cup The Thames Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's eights at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from a single rowing club A rowing club is a club for people interest ...

.Video Thames Challenge Cup Winner 2001
/ref> A Belgian rowing crew who once won the Thames Cup was the ''Antwerpse Roeivereniging'' (or ''Sculling'') who are now permanently active in

Honours

Henley Royal Regatta

References

{{reflist

External links

KRCG Website
Rowing clubs in Belgium Sport in Ghent Sports clubs established in 1871 Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage