St Edward's School Boat Club 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 a ...

club on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

based at St Edwards School Boathouse on Godstow Road,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

. It is the rowing club belonging to

St Edward's School, Oxford St Edward's School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in Oxford, England. It is known informally as 'Teddies'. Approximately sixty pupils live in each of its thirteen houses. The school is a member of the Rug ...

(also known as Teddies).

History

Rowing is one of the major sport choices available to pupils at the School. The club was founded in 1877, 14 years after the school moved to its current site in Summertown. Initially, there was 'skiffing' and four IVs were raced on the canal. Within two years rowing became a compulsory sport in the Lent Term of 1879, alongside cricket and rugby and it was agreed to stage bumping races on 25th March with two Divisions each of six boats. 'Bumpers' as they were known, continued until the 1970s and are being reintroduced in the Autumn term of 2024. Old St Edwardians or OSE (former pupils) have their own rowing club called the Martyrs Boat Club. In the early years, rowing was an internal sport with school crews racing each other. The first competitive race against another school took place in 1888 against St Mark's Windsor. The first OSE to row in the Oxford vs Cambridge

Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. It is also known as the Uni ...

was Percy Underhill who rowed for Oxford in 1904. Since then the club has produced many talented oarsmen and women who have competed internationally and at the Olympic Games. The club is responsible for the founding of the

National Schools' Regatta National Schools' Regatta is the largest rowing regatta for junior rowers in Great Britain. Held annually in May, the three day regatta offers events for junior rowers between the categories J14 and J18 (the number being the age group). Histo ...

which was first raced in 1947 as the "Colts and Third Eights Regatta". A teacher named Desmond Hill who at the time was responsible for rowing at the School, invited teams from Shrewsbury, Bedford and

Radley Radley is a village and civil parish about northeast of the centre of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Lower Radley on the River Thames. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfor ...

to race against St. Edwards in Godstow. The club has won the coveted 'Triple' (Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, the Queen Mother Cup at the National Schools' Regatta and the Schools' Head of the River Race) on one occasion in 1984. The Club has won The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta on five occasions. The only British schools to have won the event more than this are Eton College and St Paul's School, London. In 2023, the Boat Club became the first co-educational school to win Gold in Championship events for both boys and girls in the same National School's Regatta, winning the Jim Mason Plate for Girls Coxed Fours (for the second time) and the Queen Mother Challenge Cup for Boys Eights (for the fourth time).

Honours

National champions

Key *M men, O open, W women, +coxed, -coxless, x sculls, J junior, 18 16 age group

Schools' Head of the River

National Schools' Regatta

Henley Royal Regatta

References

Sport in Oxfordshire Sport in Oxford Organisations based in Oxford Buildings and structures in Oxford Buildings and structures on the River Thames Rowing clubs in England Rowing clubs in Oxfordshire Rowing clubs of the River Thames Scholastic rowing in the United Kingdom {{England-sport-team-stub