St John's College Boat Club (SJCBC) is the

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 wi ...

of St John's College, Durham University, England. It was founded in 1910 and is one of the oldest boat clubs in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

History

Rowing began at St John's College in October 1910 when trials were held to select a crew for a IV. In 1911, however, the boat house was built thanks to the help of Revd Watts-Ditchfield who telling commented, "we have not won anything yet but can see improvements." Henry Ganderton played a leading role in developing the Club in the 1910s and 1920s. In the 1930s James Atkinson likewise made a great impression on rowing at St John's, captaining for both SJCBC and the University.

Structure

The club is entirely run by students and attracts most of its members from St John's College – though anyone can join with the permission of the Captain of Boats. The club has around 80 active members. It is run by an executive committee, elected at the club's annual general meeting in June. These are Captain of Boats, Vice-Captain, Men's Squad Captain, Women's Squad Captain, Head Coxswain, Treasurer, Head Boatman, Social Secretary, Secretary to the Regatta Blue Club, Publicity Officer, and Novice Development Officer. The club's alumni association, the Regatta Blue Club, maintains a strong link between past and present students who meet together for major events.

Competition

The club won the Durham College Rowing Senate Cup and the DCR Women's Novice Cup in 2016, 2017 and the 2018 season. The Club also had wins in Hexham, Durham City, and York Regattas. In the club's novice-training programme, at the 2018 DCR Novice Cup the novice women's boats placed 1st, 2nd and 4th, and the men placing 3rd, making the club overall winners. The Club competes mainly on the North Eastern regatta circuit, though has entered boats into

BUCS British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the governing body for higher education sport in the United Kingdom. BUCS was formed in June 2008 following a merger of British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) and University College Sport ...

, the

Head of the River Race The Head of the River Race (HORR) is an against-the-clock ('processional') rowing race held annually on the River Thames in London, England between eights, other such races being the Schools' Head of the River Race, Women's Head of the River Rac ...

(HoRR), Women's Head of the River Race (WeHorr), and the

Boston Rowing Marathon The Boston Rowing Marathon is a rowing head race taking place on the third Sunday of September annually in Lincolnshire, England, over the exceptionally long distance of 49.2 km (30.6 miles). The course is along the River Witham from Lincoln to ...

Club colours

The blades are a dark Regatta blue and boats have Regatta blue and crimson chevrons on their bow-canvasses. The racing Lycra all-in-one is Navy blue with red and white stripes. The club

blazer A blazer is a type of jacket resembling a suit jacket, but cut more casually. A blazer is generally distinguished from a sport coat as a more formal garment and tailored from solid colour fabrics. Blazers often have naval-style metal buttons ...

is white with Regatta Blue trim. Blazers are awarded to members as a sign of long-term commitment and athletic achievement, and is worn by members at formal and informal social events.

References

{{Durham College Rowing 1910 establishments in England Durham University Rowing Clubs Sports clubs established in 1910

History

Structure

Competition

Club colours

See also

References