Thames Rowing Club
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Thames Rowing Club is based on the River Thames in Putney, London, United Kingdom and was founded in 1860. The club's colours are red, white and black in stripes, the white stripe lying between the red and black and being of half their width.
Of the three grand British rowing clubs (along with Leander Club and London Rowing Club), Thames has the largest active rowing membership and is the only one to welcome complete beginners. It has over 750 members, of which around 200 are in training for competition. Of these, approximately 60% are women, and almost 20% represent veteran oarsmen and women.
Thames is recognised by the UK Amateur Rowing Association as a High Performance Centre for women's rowing, with a programme to help top club rowers reach the British national squad. Many Thames women have competed for Great Britain since 1980; most recently Elise Laverick won Bronze in the double scull at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and sisters Guin Batten and Miriam Batten won Silver in the quadruple scull at the Sydney Olympics.
Thames has links with several local schools, of which Putney High School is the largest, to encourage junior rowing to attract young people into the sport. The junior programme is becoming increasingly successful, with juniors competing at many levels in the sport.
As at July 2006, Thames had won events at Henley Royal Regatta 73 times including the Wyfold Challenge Cup for men's coxless fours in 2006 and the Remenham Challenge Cup for women's eights in 2005.
The Thames RC clubhouse, situated on Putney Embankment is a treasure house of rowing history. In 2005, the club opened a large new building, named in memory of former Club President and benefactor Alan Burrough CBE, which provides extensive training facilities and boat storage.
Notable past members of Thames include Jack Beresford, medallist five times at successive Olympic Games from 1920 to 1936, and Steve Fairbairn, the Australian oarsman and coach widely acknowledged as "the father of modern rowing".
Thames is one of the Founding Clubs of Remenham Club.
See also
External links
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