Regent's Park College Boat Club is the boat club of

Regent's Park College, Oxford Regent's Park College (known colloquially within the university as Regent's) is a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford, situated in central Oxford, just off St Giles', Oxford, St Giles', England, United Kingdom. Founded in 1810 ...

, a

permanent private hall A permanent private hall (PPH) in the University of Oxford is an educational institution within the University. There are four permanent private halls at Oxford, three of which admit undergraduates. They were founded by different Christian denomina ...

of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. It is based in New College Boat House which it shares with

New College Boat Club New College Boat Club (NCBC) is the rowing club for members of New College, Oxford. The club's existence can be dated to 1840 when it first raced on The Isis in Oxford. The club shares a boathouse on The Isis (part of the Thames) with Balliol ...

. The club was established shortly after Regent's Park became a permanent private hall of the university in 1957 and currently owns two boats, one named "Regent's Shark", in which the men's team row, and a more-lightweight women's eight named 'Bond Girls.' The club competes in a number of inter-collegiate races in both the male and the female categories.

History

The boat club has competed in most

Torpids Torpids is one of two series of bumping races, a type of rowing race, held yearly at Oxford University; the other is Eights Week. More than 130 men's and women's crews race for their colleges in twelve divisions: six each of men's and women' ...

and Eights competitions throughout its history and occasionally puts out a boat for the

Christ Church Regatta Tamesis 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 eac ...

. In 2014, the women's novice boat that entered the Christ Church Regatta proceeded to win the overall competition – among the biggest achievements for any Regent's Park sports team in history. Both the men's and women's boat have won blades on a number of occasions and in 1979 the boat club undertook a charity row from Oxford back to the college's origins in

Regent's Park, London Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically between Marylebone and ...

, which was filmed by the BBC for a special documentary. In 2005, a joint Regent's Park-LMH women's crew took part in the Oxford-Cambridge Channel Challenge, setting a new record for a women's crew rowing across the English Channel. Between 2005 and 2010, the Men's VIII established a record of thirty-four consecutive starts in a bumps race without being bumped once itself. The Men's VIII has currently gone sixteen days of racing, or four years, without being bumped in the Summer Eights competition (as well as nine days in Torpids), the third-best record of crews currently on the water. Double blades (blades in Torpids and Eights in the same year) have been achieved three times in boat club history – by the Men's crews of 1979 and 2006, and the Women's crews of 2015 and 2016. After a sustained period of success, both the Men's and Women's boats are in historically high positions: the Men are at their highest position since 1982 in Torpids and their highest ever position in Summer Eights, while the Women's winning of Trophy Blades in the 2019 Summer Eights propelled them to their highest position since 2000. Unfortunately due to poor weather and a novice cox, the men's boat club absolutely destroyed 2 boats in 2024 and won spoons.

Governance

The club is governed by a committee of students, who are all elected in Trinity Term. The Executive Committee consists of a President, Treasurer, and the Men's and Women's Captains, along with the Senior Member. Most of the club's funding comes from the JCR and from its sponsors.

Traditions

Members of the club who have rowed in at least one university race (and, usually, who have won trophy blades in that race) are entitled to wear the boat club

blazer A blazer is a jacket worn as part of a smart casual or business casual look. Similar to a sport jacket, a blazer is not part of a formal suit, and the terms "sport coat" and "blazer" may be used interchangeably in daily life. A nautical bl ...

, especially at the college's annual Final Fling ball. Club members who have competed in at least one race (but not won trophy blades) are entitled to wear the boat club tie. On the final day of each regatta, the Men's and Women's crews all down a small Smirnoff ice or non-alcoholic alternative.

Results

Summer Eights Blades (since 1980)

* Men: 1986, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2006 * Women: 1994, 2007, 2015, 2016, 2019

Torpids Blades (since 1980)

* Men: 1991, 2006, 2012 * Women: 2013, 2015, 2016

References

{{United Kingdom rowing clubs Rowing clubs of the University of Oxford Regent's Park College, Oxford 1969 establishments in England Sports clubs and teams established in 1969 Rowing clubs in Oxfordshire Rowing clubs of the River Thames