Wadham College Boat Club (WCBC) is the rowing club of

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

, in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The club's members are students and staff from Wadham College and

Harris Manchester College Harris Manchester College is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It was founded in Warrington in 1757 as a college for Unitarianism, Unitarian students and move ...

. Founded some time before 1837, Wadham has had success both within Oxford and externally in regattas such as

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 boat club is based in its boathouse on

the Isis "The Isis" () is an alternative name for the River Thames, used from its source in the Cotswolds until it is joined by the Thame at Dorchester in Oxfordshire. It derives from the ancient name for the Thames, ''Tamesis'', which in the Middle ...

, which is shared with St Anne's College Boat Club and

St Hugh's College St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a women's college, and accepte ...

Boat Club.

History

The first official record of the boat club’s existence appears in 1837 when the club was officially constituted. The Wadham 1st Eight competed in the first ever race 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 ...

in 1839, and narrowly lost to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. This defeat would be avenged in the next decade when, in 1849, Wadham raced Trinity, Cambridge and

Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

in 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 ...

and the Grand Challenge Cup on successive days. Wadham won both races with Trinity as the runner up and Oriel in a distant third. It is from this defeat of Trinity that Wadham claimed its traditional right to wear Cambridge Blue as its boating colors, and to this day the 1st Eight Blazers and Ties continue this tradition. By 1897 Wadham College had emulated the example of the rest of the colleges and invested in a permanent Wadham Barge to serve as a rowing base on the Isis. A new boathouse was built in 1989, and is now shared with St. Anne's and St. Hugh's colleges. The year 1974 saw the first admission of women to the College, and in 1975 a women’s team was official created. The first year of the women’s club was extraordinarily successful, and the women dominated the university by winning the

Christ Church Regatta Christ Church Regatta is a boat race in the University of Oxford, England, which is held annually during seventh week of Michaelmas term (late November), in which novice crews (of eight rowers with a cox) representing each college, compete against ...

and the Lady Margaret Hall Regatta. In 1976 a women’s division was added to the Summer Eights schedule, and following a random draw which placed the Wadham women at 3rd on the river they immediately bumped up to second and first on successive days, and then rowed over on the Friday and Saturday to claim the first Women’s Head of the River.

Recent form

In recent years the Women of Wadham have achieved great successes in and out of Oxford rowing. Within college rowing the women won the Eights headship in 2014 after bumping St John's College, and also gained the

Torpids Torpids is one of two series of bumps race, bumping races, a type of rowing (sport), rowing race, held yearly at Oxford University; the other is Eights Week. Over 130 men's and women's crews race for their colleges in six men's divisions and fiv ...

headship in 2015. W2 remains the highest second boat on the river, and currently enjoys a strong position in Division III alongside other colleges' first boats. External successes include W1 racing at

Women's Henley Henley Women's Regatta, often abbreviated to "HWR" or "Women's Henley", is a rowing regatta held at Henley-on-Thames, England. Chris Aistrop and Rosemary Mayglothling were jointly responsible for setting up the Regatta in June 1988 and Aistrop was ...

in 2014, and a number of other external races where W1 has raced and defeated university first boats.

Membership

Membership in the boat club is open to all students and staff of Wadham College and Harris Manchester College.

Equipment

Fleet

Men's boats *2022 Filippi 8+ "Spirit of Niccolo" *2018 Salani 8+ "Sir Ralph Walker" *2016 Filippi 4+ "Paul Bowen" *2014 Filippi 8+ "Kristanne Claire" *1996 Janousek 8+ "Spirit of Nelson" Wadham women

Women's boats *2022 Filippi 8+ TBN *2018 Salani 8+ "Spirit of 76" *2016 Filippi 4+ "Alpha Lau" *2014 Filippi 8+ "Rod Andrews" *1997 Janousek 8+ "Mary Margherita" *1992 Janousek 8+ "Sir Claus Moser" Small boats *2017 Falcon 1x "Vere Ducker" *2016 Falcon 1x "Dorothy" *Pre 1994

Aylings Lola Aylings, was a manufacturer of rowing boats. It was formed in early 2001 when Lola Group (a racing car/composite engineering company) purchased Aylings (an existing boat manufacturer) and was based in Huntingdon, United Kingdom. Aylings was ...

2x/2- "John Fleming" *Pre 1994 Janousek 1x "Harry Fawcett" *Pre 1994 Janousek 1x "Ben Arber" Erg room

Ergometer room

The boat club has a dedicated ergometer room in Wadham College with 8

concept2 Concept2, Inc. is an American manufacturer of rowing equipment and exercise machines that is based in Morrisville, Vermont. It is best known for its air resistance indoor rowing machines (known as "ergometers" or "ergs"), which are considered t ...

ergometers and 2 RowPerfect indoor rowers.

Training locations

The bulk of novice and lower boat water training occurs on the Isis out of Wadham's boathouse. The Senior squads typically train with their top two boats on the Godstow stretch of the Thames near the Trout Inn.

Social life

Wadham rowers enjoy a varied and exciting social life within the club.

Notable Wadham rowers

Honours

Henley Royal Regatta

References

External links

Wadham College Boat ClubOxford University Rowing Clubs
{{United Kingdom rowing clubs Rowing clubs of the University of Oxford Wadham College, Oxford Sports clubs established in 1837 1837 establishments in England Rowing clubs in Oxfordshire Rowing clubs of the River Thames