Remenham Club

Not to be confused with the event at Henley Royal Regatta for women’s VIIIs, the annual Remenham Challenge is a long distance race held annually in January involving crews from all seven founding clubs. The race developed from humble origins, with a view to establishing an event to enable the clubs to form prospective crews for winter racing, with stiff rivalry and yet the event seeking to remain on friendly, informal get together to help work off the Christmas excesses.

Martin Levy, the then race chairman and now Remenham Club chairman, sought to arrange races in 1998 and 1999 but apathy reigned and it wasn’t until the dawn of the new millennium did club coaches and captains realise the opportunity that a race between the 7 founding clubs presented them with: some of the country’s leading oarsmen would participate, the race could be used as “short sharp shock” therapy to the complacent amongst the respective rowing squads, and yet there were no entry fees…!

The race is of no fixed abode, moving from club to club (in alphabetical order, weather permitting) with every year. The race began as a challenge for eights and has allowed quads and juniors to join the ranks (entries permitting) held in two divisions to facilitate boat sharing opportunities to maximise participation.

Kingston saw the inaugural race “proper” on 23 January 2000, where 40 or so crews battled their way along a course from the Water Gallery at Hampton Court Palace to the Kingston RC Boathouse, a distance just over 3 miles.

2001 saw the race shift “down river” to the Tideway, where London RC hosted the 37 crews competing over the University Boat Race course, in reverse. 2002 came and the race moved back to the off-tidal reaches, this time the 48 crews being hosted by Molesey BC.

The Rowing Gods did their worst, however, in 2003, where Staines BC were unable to host the race owing to flood water conditions on their reach of the Thames. The true spirit that embodies the Remenham Challenge then rose to the fore with Thames RC stepping into the breach, offering 34 crews the hospitality (??) of a race upstream from Battersea Bridge to Craven Cottage in Fulham.

By 2004, not even the doom and gloom of the BBC’s FloodWatch weather broadcasters could halt the development of the Remenham Challenge, and Staines BC staged its first ever long distance race, the number of crews capped to 39 boats to take account of the fast flowing water.

Alphabetical order was restored in 2005, when Twickenham RC mirrored the ground-breaking success of Staines by proving to club sceptics young and old and hosting a long- distance race for 57 crews downstream from Teddington Lock to Richmond.

The longer racing distances offered by the Tideway were revisited in 2006 when Vesta selected a downstream course from Barnes Bridge to the Vesta boathouse. Again, numbers were at record level, with 58 crews all testing their mettle on a beautiful Sunday morning in January.

And the Victors? Over the 7 years since its true inception, a crew from each of the Founding Clubs has won one of the event categories included in the Remenham Challenge. For the statisticians amongst you, honours for the premier men’s event (Men’s Open) are shared equally between Thames and London (Thames winning in 2000, 2001 and 2003; London unbeaten since 2004) with Molesey spoiling the symmetry by winning handsomely on home water in 2002. The women’s premier event is a black-red-and-white- wash with Thames having won each of the races held. The men’s intermediate race (for crews with less than 40 ARA points in aggregate) reflect a triumvirate of excellence by Thames (2006 and 2001), Molesey (2005 and 2000) and London (2002 – 04). The women’s intermediate race, Thames continues to shine, mirroring the achievements of its Elite oarswomen (in 2001, 2002, and from 2004 – 06), but the constancy of success has been interrupted by Molesey (in 2000) and Vesta (2003). Twickenham, Kingston and Staines have all won in the novice category and, latterly, the Kingston veteran men are beginning to emerge as a “sure bet” in their category.

Befitting of a race involving clubs with international athletes, FISA umpires, Henley Stewards and excellent cake-bakers, the Remenham Challenge continues to grow from strength to strength, now in two divisions to enable Remenham members of all ages, abilities and levels of determination to participate.

So, if you’re at a loose end on the third Sunday of January, please feel free to join us for some partisan, but inherently good natured, rivalry!