If you ever see rowers in a garish shade of pink on the River Thames, there’s a good chance you’re watching rowers from Westminster School Boat Club (WSBC).
The WSBC boathouse is located in Putney, London, on the Tideway stretch of the River Thames, with other clubs such as Thames, Imperial, and King’s College Wimbledon.
Recognised as ‘water’ at Westminster School, rowing has taken place there for over 200 years, with records of outings dating back to 1813. The club’s colour was originally blue, but this changed in 1837 after defeating Eton in a race to wear pink, considered ‘gentlemanly’ at the time. This colour was later also adopted by the renowned Leander Club, founded by a group of Westminster alumni rowers. In fact, some rowing kits include the boat club’s mascot, Winnie the Pooh, after A.A. Milne, who attended the School in the late 19th century. Nevertheless, WSBC is stated to be the oldest rowing club in the world, and has the history to go with it.
“I’m proud to have been chosen as Captain for this coming season. There’s so much history behind this role, and I’m grateful to fill these shoes and emulate the responsibility and leadership others before me have shown.” – Alex Taylor, Captain of Boats.
WSBC has accumulated a strong list of achievements over the years. Domestically, they were champions in the Fawley Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta in 2009, and in the eight at the National Schools’ Regatta and the Schools’ Head of the River Race in 2015 & 2016.
Westminster also has success on the international stage both for younger and more senior rowers, sending rowers to the Junior World Championships and qualifying crews for the J16 GB-France Match for the last three years. However, the one trophy the club is yet to win is the elusive P.E cup at Henley, reaching the semi-finals in 2021, and losing the final in an underdog defeat to St. Paul’s School in 2015.
Much like other clubs, the priority for WSBC is success in the summer, but the pace has started to pick up as winter approaches.
“We’ve got a completely different squad from last year, a lot younger but everyone’s excited to get racing and competing”, said J17 athlete Kuzey Mazi, J17. “We’re in singles now preparing for next week’s GB trials, then it’s heads down until Fours Head, our first big test of the season. After a strong result at Pairs Head a couple weeks ago, we’re pretty confident.”
Rowing doesn’t stop for many students past Westminster. Alumni have continued to compete both domestically and overseas, including in the Boat Race on the Tideway and as part of the GB senior team all over the world. The WSBC boathouse serves as the headquarters for Oxford University during the Boat Race, and many rowers do often return to the boathouse, albeit in a different colour!
Cover image: ©Pointillist at en.wikipedia under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0.
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