Grey College Boat Club

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

Grey College Boat Club
MottoGradibus ascendimus (Ascending by degrees)
LocationDunelm House, Durham
Home waterRiver Wear
Founded1959 (1959)
Membership60 active members
AffiliationsBritish Rowing, Grey College

The club has over 60 members and shares its boathouse with Josephine Butler College Boat Club.[2] The club competes at a regional and college level, with notable success in 2010 at the annual Durham Regatta.

Boathouse and Fleet

Grey College Boat House is located at Dunelm House on the River Wear between Kingsgate Bridge and Elvet Bridge and is a ten-minute walk from Grey College. [3]

Grey College Boat Club own three VIIIs, 'Eric Halladay', 'Brian Seal', and '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.[4]

The Men's 1st IV row 'The Earl', in honour of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey after whom Grey college is named. The Women's 1st IV row 'Victor'. Another IV owned by the boat club is 'The Golden Phoenix', the unofficial symbol of the college adopted after a fire devastated the main accommodation block in March, 1959.

Competitive Events

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

Regional events

  • Durham Regatta
  • Durham City Regatta
  • Durham SBH
  • Tees SBH
  • Tyne Regatta
  • Tyne Head
  • York Regatta
  • York SBH

College events

2010 saw the first 24-hour indoor rowing marathon held against Collingwood College Boat Club. The charity event was jointly run by both clubs and raised money for Sport Relief as well as the two clubs concerned.

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 2010, the Men's first VIII won both days of the regatta. In 2009, the Women's first IV won the novice event. In 2015, the Men's fresher IV won Maiden's Fours, an event within Durham Regatta open to first year Durham University students who have not rowed before.

Event Year Result Crew
The Alderman Thurlow Trophy 2010 Winners (Nov 8+) T.Munro, A.Hatch, J.Davies, A.Palmer, J.Turner, A.Newton, N.Collard,G.Critchley, D.Benhamou (Cox)
Joseph Brown Challenge Cup 2010 Winners (IM3 8+) T.Munro, A.Hatch, J.Davies, A.Palmer, J.Turner, A.Newton, N.Collard,G.Critchley, D.Benhamou (Cox)

Club structure

Any member of Grey College JCR, MCR or SCR is eligible to join Grey College Boat Club as an ordinary member. Any other student of Durham University may join with the permission of the Captain of Boats. The club is run by an executive committee elected by club members throughout the year. The executive committee is composed of the Captain of Boats, Men's Captain, Women's Captain, Secretary, Treasurer, Sponsorship Secretary, Social Secretary, Boatman, Fresher Co-Ordinator and Safety Officer and Stash 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". Archived from the original on 2011-08-05. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  2. Durham College Rowing. "River Wear". Archived from the original on 2012-07-28. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  3. Amateur Rowing Association. "ARA Club Finder". Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  4. York City Centre. "Whip-ma-whop-ma-gate". Retrieved 2010-06-28.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.