Wallingford Regatta is a

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 ...

regatta which takes place on

Dorney Lake Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and is around 3 km (2 miles) west of Wi ...

, Buckinghamshire near

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

next to 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 ...

in southern

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 ...

. It attracts crews from schools, clubs and universities from around 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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The regatta was formerly "Wallingford

Skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-person or small crew. Sailing skiffs have deve ...

Regatta" the only organised boating in 1949 on the Wallingford stretch of the Thames above

Cleeve Lock Cleeve Lock is a lock on the River Thames, in Oxfordshire, England. It is located just upstream of Goring and Streatley villages, on the eastern side of the river within the village of Goring. There was a hamlet of Cleeve, after which th ...

. It had taken place every year in peace time since the late 1890s and there is evidence that it existed as early as 1861. In 1949 the regatta committee founded

Wallingford Rowing Club Wallingford Rowing Club is a rowing club on the River Thames by Thames Street, Wallingford, Oxfordshire. History The club was formed in 1947 by the Wallingford Regatta committee. The blade colours are scarlet with a light blue tip; kit: likew ...

which purchased some old boats and, with mostly novice rowers, started competing in other regattas. The regatta was developed as a conventional regatta although it still awards the Wallingford Skiff Regatta Cup. The regatta was held on the same reach at Wallingford for most of its existence, but river conditions caused problems and there was pressure for larger facilities. In 2005 a local pub regatta on the same reach was gate-crashed by a BBC programme creating a remake of

Three Men in a Boat ''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous account by English writer Jerome K. Jerome of a tw ...

.Daily Telegraph ''Three men in a remake'' 28 December 2005
/ref> Wallingford Regatta itself had moved to its current course on Dorney Lake in 2001.

References

External links

Wallingford Regatta website
Regattas on the River Thames Sport in Buckinghamshire Sport in Oxfordshire {{Rowing-stub

See also

References

External links