Grey College Boat Club

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Grey College Boat Club
Grey college boat logo.png
Grey College Boat Club Blade.svg
MottoGradibus ascendimus (Ascending by degrees)
Location Dunelm House, Durham
Coordinates 54°46′24″N1°34′20″W / 54.773204°N 1.572232°W / 54.773204; -1.572232 (Grey College Boat Club)
Home water River Wear
Founded1959;66 years ago (1959)
Membership70 active members
Affiliations British Rowing, Grey College

Grey College Boat Club (GCBC) is the rowing club of Grey College at Durham University in North East England. [1]

Contents

The club has over 70 active members and shares its boathouse with Josephine Butler College Boat Club. [2] The club competes at a national, regional and college level.

GCBC is a registered Boat Club through British Rowing, with Boat Code "GRC" [3] and is a member organisation of Durham College Rowing [4] .

GCBC Senate Crew, 1965 GCBC Senate Crew, 1965.png
GCBC Senate Crew, 1965

Boathouse and Fleet

Grey College Boat House is located at Dunelm House on the River Wear between Kingsgate Bridge and Elvet Bridge, a ten-minute walk away from Grey College. [5]

Grey College Boat Club owns two VIIIs, an Empacher called 'Eric Halladay' and a Vespoli called 'Tom James'.

The club also own a number of IVs, and other smaller boats including a double scull named 'Whip-ma-whop-ma-gate' after the street in York. [6]

The Men's 1st IV is a Stampfli called 'Schilders, snel beter'. The Women's 1st IV is a Janousek called 'These Girls Can'. Another IV owned by the boat club is 'The Golden Phoenix', the unofficial symbol of the college which was adopted after a fire devastated the main accommodation block in March, 1959.

Racing Calendar & Results

Grey College Boat Club compete throughout the year in many head races and regattas in the North East of England. Over the last few years, events competed in include:

National Events

Regional events

  • Durham Regatta
  • Hexham Regatta
  • Rutherford Head
  • Tyne United New Year's Head
  • Durham City Regatta
  • Durham Small Boats Head
  • Tyne Head

College events

Head of the River Race

Grey College Boat Club routinely sends an M1 and M2 to the Head of the River Race, with notable success in recent years. The club's highest finish position is recorded below:

YearFinish positionTimeCrew
2023168th19.36Coxswain: A.Baker, Stroke: L.Jones, J.Bowers, T.Mercieca, J.Gondzic, G.Drake, H.Garrard, F.Fleming, Bow: O.Wilcockson

Women's Head of the River

The boat club also regularly sends a W1 to Women's Head, achieving a number of strong results over multiple decades. The club's highest finish position is recorded below:

YearFinish positionTime
2003137th23.41

Durham Regatta

Grey College Boat Club has seen notable success in recent years at Durham Regatta. In 1995 the Men's Novice IV won the Lady Hershall Plate for the first time in over twenty years (Tock, C., Owens, L., Moxey, D., Blake, B. and Kelly, R. [cox]). In 2009, the Women's first IV won the novice event, and in 2010, the Men's first VIII won both days of the regatta. There have since been a number of successes, most recently in 2024 when the club won three events. Awards won since 2009 are listed below [7] :

EventYearResultCrew
The Danny Webster Memorial Cup2009Winners (W Nov 4+)
The Barry Ward-Thompson Trophy2010Winners (Col 4+)
The Alderman Thurlow Trophy2010Winners (Nov 8+)T.Munro, A.Hatch, J.Davies, A.Palmer, J.Turner, A.Newton, N.Collard, G.Critchley, D.Benhamou (Cox)
Joseph Brown Challenge Cup2010Winners (IM3 8+)T.Munro, A.Hatch, J.Davies, A.Palmer, J.Turner, A.Newton, N.Collard, G.Critchley, D.Benhamou (Cox)
The Prince Bishop Trophy2011Winners (W IM3 8+)
The Lady Herschell Plate2013Winners (Nov 4+)
Bell and Ridley Challenge Cup2022Winner (Op Int 1x)E.Bowman
The Five Alive Trophy2023Winners (Op NC 4x+)H.Garrard, T.Mercieca, L.Jones, J.Bowers, A.Baker (Cox)
The Five Alive Trophy2024Winners (Op NC 4x+)I.Qasem, L.Jones, R.Conte, H.Hudson, M.Baldwin (Cox)
Open Elite B 8+2024WinnersL.Jones, H.Hudson, G.Drake, I.Qasem, F.Fleming, R.Conte, G.Kite, J.Launder, M.Baldwin (Cox)
The Durham University Challenge Trophy2024Winners (Op NC 4+) (composite with St John's College Boat Club (Durham))L.Fleming, G.Drake, M.Bamforth, F.Fleming, R.Allen (Cox)

Club structure

Any member of Grey College JCR, MCR or SCR is eligible to join Grey College Boat Club, alongside students from Ustinov College. Any other student of Durham University may join with the permission of the President. The club is run by an executive committee elected by club members throughout the year. The executive committee is composed of the President, Men's Captain, Women's Captain, Men's Novice Captain, Women's Novice Captain, Treasurer, Boatman, Welfare Officer and Alumni and Fundraising Officer.

Grey College Boat Club holds an annual Ball each year in Epiphany term which is the highlight of the boat club's social calendar. At this event, a formal thank you to out-going members of the executive committee is offered and results of the current and previous seasons are celebrated.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Durham College Rowing. "List of Clubs in Durham" . Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  2. ↑ Durham College Rowing. "River Wear". Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  3. ↑ British Rowing Registration. "British Rowing" . Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  4. ↑ Durham College Rowing. "Durham College Rowing Member organisations" . Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  5. ↑ Amateur Rowing Association. "ARA Club Finder" . Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  6. ↑ York City Centre. "Whip-ma-whop-ma-gate" . Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  7. ↑ Durham Regatta Results. "Grey College, Durham Regatta Results" . Retrieved 10 February 2025.
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