Trinity College Boat Club

Rowing as an organised inter-collegiate sport became increasingly popular in Oxford during the early decades of the nineteenth century, with the first organised bumps races being held at around this time. A Trinity rower in 1831 by the name of James Pycroft detailed how the men within the team would pay for a college boat themselves, and would levy a rate upon all members of the college to help pay for it,‘it being considered that the boat and its anticipated victories were for the honour of the college generally’.[2] Even at the outset of rowing at Trinity in the 1830s, Pycroft records in his memoirs an incident in which a scholar named Thomas Lewin ‘had thoughts of joining the boat, but received a hint that it would not do’.[2] The reason behind this being that members of the boat club were known to be uproarious, riotous and generally interested in having a good time while they studied!

In 1838 Trinity join the records, which can still be seen in the college’s boathouse, and moved up three places over the week’s rowing from eighth to fifth. Trinity’s first rowing Blues are both depicted in the earliest known depiction of a Trinity crew, from 1842. John Cox and Edward Breedon both rowed in Oxford’s sixth boat race on the Westminster to Putney course in 1842.

Another nineteen years passed with rowing at Trinity growing in its importance within the college, until finally during the Eights in 1861, Trinity bumped University College, Brasenose College, Exeter and finally Balliol College to go Head of the River. The run of great rowing remained until 1865 which marked the beginning of a disastrous few years of racing at Trinity. However, the period at the head was matched with a similar stretch of dominance at the top of Division one, just a few months before the start of World War Two in 1939. Several of Trinity’s ‘old boys’ rowed at this time and experienced being the best of the Oxford college teams on the Isis.

In addition to this, past Trinity crews were involved in many regattas outside of the college including the Henley Royal Regatta, and the Thames Regatta.

Men's Summer Eights Headship: 1861-64, 1938, 1939, 1946–49,

Men's Summer Eights Spoons: 2016

Trinity College Boat Club – University Rowers

• Trinity College, Oxford
• Oxford University Rowing Clubs

• James Pycroft (1886). Oxford Memoirs: a Retrospect after Fifty Years. Richard Bentley. ISBN 117733948X.

• www.trinity.ox.ac.uk/boatclub/