| Founded | 2010 |
|---|---|
| Affiliations | British Rowing |
| Website | www.swanseaunirc.co.uk |
The Tawe Phoenix Boat Club is the alumni rowing club of Swansea University Rowing Club, [1] and currently doesn't have a permanent boating base. The club was founded in 2010 and aims to support the interests of Swansea University Rowing Club, to enter some races and to meet up socially at various points throughout each year.
The university club was started in the 1970s and closed in the early 1980s. Since then Will Edmondson and his sister Anne-Marie restarted the club by breaking into the shed and getting out the old boats in 1989. They were helped by Andrew Williams (of Mumbles ARC). Rob Jones joined the club at the end of 1989 and the club set about buying some kit. Will Garnier was President, Rob Jones was secretary and after a bit of work, they got an Eight (rowing) out for the Head of the River Race and raced at various events including Reading Town where they reached the final of the Senior 2 event. At this stage there were about 25 racing members and had a huge social section with parties at their boathouse on the Cwm Lleidi (Swiss Valley reservoir) reservoir near Llanelli. The President and Secretary looked into moving the club to the River Tawe by the Morfa Stadium and secured a small space to keep boats there. The club dissolved around 1995 and didn't start again until 2004. In that time, the stadium had been demolished, with a number of university boats going with it. [2]
The club was revived in 2004 by Tim Stickley, who found just one river-worthy boat in a shed by the university playing fields. An area was organised in the car park next to the River Tawe on which to put the club trailer and permission obtained from Swansea Yacht and Sub Aqua Club to use their slipway to launch. Membership has increased dramatically and the club's fleet of boats has grown over subsequent years, with different captains bringing new things to the club, notably a training camp and The Welsh Boat Race under Henry Hilsdon, a new trailer under Sophie Clarke-Hackston (club captain for 2 years) and a first boat race win under Jenny Staight. Club captains since then have been Steven Gray and Laura Kentfield. [3]
Members of the club include Paralympic and World Championship finalist rowers such as James Roberts in the TA category. [4] Also from SURC have been Welsh International rowers Daniel John and Kate Evans. Dan John won the coxless four event at the 2009 Home International Regatta. Kate Evans also placed 2nd at 2009 BUCS regatta in the women's lightweight singles event, and represented British Universities at the European Universities regatta. [5]
The Tawe Phoenix Boat Club's website can be accessed via a link on the SURC website.
Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is divided into two disciplines: sculling and sweep rowing. In sculling, each rower holds two oars—one in each hand, while in sweep rowing each rower holds one oar with both hands. There are several boat classes in which athletes may compete, ranging from single sculls, occupied by one person, to shells with eight rowers and a coxswain, called eights. There are a wide variety of course types and formats of racing, but most elite and championship level racing is conducted on calm water courses 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long with several lanes marked using buoys.
Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other water-borne craft for as long as such watercraft have existed.
British Rowing, formerly the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA), is the national governing body for the sport of rowing. It is responsible for the training and selection of individual rowers and crews representing Great Britain and England, and for participation in and the development of rowing in England. Scottish Rowing and Welsh Rowing oversee governance in their respective countries, organise their own teams for the Home International Regatta and input to the GB team organisation.
University rowing in the United Kingdom began when it was introduced to Oxford in the late 18th century. The first known race at a university took place at Oxford in 1815 between Brasenose and Jesus and the first inter-university boat race, between Oxford and Cambridge, was rowed on 10 June 1829.
Coastal and offshore rowing is a rowing sport performed at sea. In North America, this sport is often called open water rowing.
The Welsh Varsity is an annual sporting event contested by Cardiff University and Swansea University, usually in early April. The sports contested include rugby union, hockey, cricket, squash, badminton, lacrosse, rowing, golf, basketball, football, American football, ultimate frisbee, netball, volleyball, fencing and an array of other sports. Profits go to charity. The event is held over the course of a week, with some sports competing over a weekend due to the nature of the sport. The majority of the games are held on the Wednesday afternoon, with the centrepiece rugby union match between the two sides held in the evening and often attended by in excess of 18,000 supporters.
Kingston Rowing Club (KRC) is a rowing club in England founded in 1858 and a member club of British Rowing.
Durham College Rowing represents all sixteen college boat clubs in Durham University, encompassing approximately half of the rowers, scullers and coxes in the region of North East England.
Welsh Rowing is the governing body for the sport of rowing in Wales. It is responsible for promoting the sport in Wales, choosing crews to send to the Home Countries International Regatta and the Commonwealth Rowing Championships as well as progressing talented Welsh rowers along relevant pathways into the Great Britain trials and squads. It has 21 affiliated clubs, including schools and universities.
Newcastle University Boat Club (NUBC) is the rowing club of Newcastle University, UK. Established in March 1911 as the boat club for Armstrong College, it celebrated its centenary in 2011, when was also appointed High Performance Programme for heavyweight men and women by British Rowing. In the past 20 years current students and alumni won 60 international vests for GB.
Timothy John Willoughby was an Australian rower, yachtsman and stockbroker. He was a five-time Australian national champion rower, a dual Olympian and won a bronze medal in the Australian men's eight at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Queen Mary University of London Boat Club (QMULBC) is the rowing club of Queen Mary University of London. The club was founded in 1910.
City of Cambridge Rowing Club (CCRC) is the oldest 'town' rowing and sculling club in Cambridge, UK, and with about 300 members, it has one of the largest active rowing memberships in the region. The club's colours are dark blue, with a band of claret sandwiched between two bands of 'old gold'.
The Swansea University Rowing Club (SURC) is the rowing club of Swansea University, Wales, and is situated on the west bank of the River Tawe in Swansea. It is unknown when the club was founded, but was re-founded in 2004. Rowing with SURC is open to all members of Sport Swansea, who provide a nominal level of funding and insurance for all university clubs.
The Welsh Boat Race, also known as the Welsh University Boat Race and The Welsh Varsity Boat Race, is an annual rowing race in Wales between the Swansea University Rowing Club and the Cardiff University Rowing Club, rowed between competing eights each spring since 2006 on the River Tawe or River Taff in South Wales.
The Head of the Hooch Regatta, previously known as the Head of the Chattahoochee Regatta, is a 2-day rowing regatta held annually on the first full weekend in November in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The head race is currently run downstream on a 3.1 miles (5.0 km) course on the Tennessee River. It presently ranks as one of the largest rowing regattas in the United States with over 10,000 rowers and over 2,100 boats entered for the 2014 event. 1,245 boats raced on one day in the 2012 competition, more than any other US regatta on a single day.
York City Rowing Club is a rowing club by the River Ouse in York, England. It has over 200 members, of all ages. The boathouse is on the west bank of the river next to Lendal Bridge and in Memorial Gardens. The club has modern buildings but is three years older than the oldest coastal rowing club in Britain, Dover; it is 25 years younger than the oldest non-academic rowing club, Leander. The reach of canalised river it enjoys is unusually long – over 20 mi (32 km).
Abingdon School Boat Club is the rowing club for Abingdon School. The club has a strong tradition of providing rowers for the Oxford University Boat Club, Cambridge University Boat Club and international teams.
Tim Conrad is an Australian rowing coach and former Olympian rower. He was a five time national champion and competed in the men's eight event at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Oriel College Boat Club (OCBC) is the rowing club of Oriel College, Oxford. Rowing at Oriel is carried out from the college's own boathouse across Christ Church Meadow, on Boat House Island.