Alongside a small stretch of the River Lea in Herefordshire, lies Broxbourne Rowing Club. Founded in 1847, their motto “A club for everyone” is certainly reflected in the sheer number of squads that the club puts out.
The club is divided into three main squads: senior women, senior men and juniors; the latter is very much the beating heart of the boat club. Anyone new to the Broxbourne can expect to partake in a Learn to Row course, which promises everything from gym training to indoor racing. Plus, you get a free tee-shirt. Once in, juniors are stretched to compete in events as wide-ranging as the Junior British Championships (in which Broxbourne has had a strong showing as of late) to the local Lea Regatta where the club hoovers up many more medals. Broxbourne’s three British Champion crews (Women’s J18 1x 1980, Men’s J16 2- 1995, and Women J18 2- 2012) demonstrate not only the calibre of the junior squads but also the constituent delivery of excellence in junior rowing they provide.
The Senior Squads are further divided up into two categories: senior squad and development. The Senior Men’s squad train 10-12 times a week and it certainly shows. In 2019, at Marlow Regatta in the M4-, current club president, Russell Theobald, stroked a boat which made the B final, no mean feat when one considers the might of Mosley and Isis that were competing in the same category. They were to be joined in the race by Will Lock, competing in the M U23 2000m event alongside a certain Mr James Cracknell. A thrilling race for sure. The Women’s squad, although smaller in size, has grown considerably over the past couple of years and looks well placed to challenge some of its more established rowing neighbours in future regattas such as Lea RC and Herefordshire Rowing Club.
The two Masters squads buy up the main body of Broxbourne’s large trophy cabinet. Not only do these crews dominate at the national level, with the Women’s Crew winning at Bedford Head, Pairs Head and Head of the East to name a few, but also on an international level, having competed at the European Masters Rowing Championships regularly over the past couple of years, with the Women winning three gold medals in 2018. The same year, the Men dominated with 28 individual rowers winning a combined total of 93 races across 17 competitions. And they still found time to claim the title at Henley Masters, a testament to the hardworking nature of this phenomenal squad and club.
Want to find out more about Broxbourne Rowing Club? Check out their website.
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Images by Broxbourne Rowing Club
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