Durham School Boat Club is a school club offering rowing to students, parents, friends and other local schools. Based at Durham School

Durham School

Durham School, headmaster Martin George , is an independent British day and boarding school for boys and girls in Durham....

 in the city of Durham

Durham

Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

, England.

History

Durham School Boat Club (DSBC) was founded in 1847. However, there was rowing at Durham School before that - the club was a founder of Durham Regatta

Durham Regatta

Durham Regatta is the premier rowing event in the North East of England, held each year on the second weekend in June on the River Wear which provides a picturesque setting for regattas and head races....

 in 1834 and it is, therefore, one of the oldest clubs on the River Wear in Durham. Record keeping in the early days was non-existent and the first reference to a School boat was to the four oared wherry

Wherry

A wherry is a type of boat that was traditionally used for carrying cargo or passengers on rivers and canals in England, and is particularly associated with the River Thames and also with the Broadland rivers of Norfolk and Suffolk. London passenger wherries evolved into the Thames skiff, a...

 Argo in 1838. At the regatta, the Club went on to win its first Challenge Cup in 1865. The first Club rower to win a blue for Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

 or Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

 rowing in The Boat Race

The Boat Race

The event generally known as "The Boat Race" is a rowing race in England between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club, rowed between competing eights each spring on the River Thames in London. It takes place generally on the last Saturday of March or the first...

 was W. King who rowed for Oxford in 1854.

Facilities

The Club operates from its own boathouse situated just downstream of Prebends Bridge

Prebends Bridge

Prebends Bridge, along with Framwellgate and Elvet, is one of three stone arch bridges in the centre of Durham, England, that cross the River Wear.-History:...

, this was built in 1892.

The Club has a range of boats ranging in size from singles

Single scull

A single scull is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for a single person who propels the boat with two oars, one in each hand....

 to eights

Eight (rowing)

An Eight is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for eight rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars, and is steered by a coxswain, or cox....

 and octuples

Octuple scull

An octuple scull is a racing shell or a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. The octuple is directed by a coxswain and propelled by eight rowers who move the boat by sculling with two oars, one in each hand...

. Durham School boats use the three letter boat code DUS.

Philosophy

The Club is not selective, that is it is open to all students: "All year groups at the school have the opportunity to row at the appropriate level for their physiological and physical development".

The Club also offers rowing to The Chorister School and parents and friends of Durham School.

International Representation

The Club has been successful at international level, the athletes having represented their home countries and Great Britain at olympic, world, university and junior level, most recently being GB representation, winning a silver medal in the junior women's 8, at the 2010 Coupe de la Jeunesse

Coupe de la Jeunesse

The Coupe de la Jeunesse, is an international rowing regatta rowed over 2,000 m every year. It was founded in 1985 and is open to rowers who are 18 or under by the end of the current calendar year. It is a two-day team event, with points awarded to nations based on finishing position in each...

 in Hazewinkel

Hazewinkel

The Hazewinkel is a Bloso 2,000 m rowing and regatta course in Heindonk, belonging to the municipality of Willebroek, near Mechelen, Belgium. The site consists of a finishing tower, boathouses, a cafeteria and eight basic huts that house athletes using the lake. The course hosts the Great...

, Belgium; England in the 2010 Home International Regatta in Cork

Cork (city)

Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

; the World Rowing Junior Championships

Junior World Rowing Championships

The World Rowing Junior Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA . A rower or coxswain shall be classified as a Junior until 31st December of the year in which he reaches the age of 18. After that date, he shall be classified as an Under 23 rower...

 in Brive-la-Gaillarde

Brive-la-Gaillarde

Brive-la-Gaillarde is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture of the Corrèze department. The population of the urban area was 89,260 as of 1999. Although it is by far the biggest commune in Corrèze, the capital is Tulle.-History:...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 in August 2009; the Coupe de la Jeunesse in Cork, Ireland in 2008 and England representation at the Home International Regatta in 2006.

National Events

The Club enters a number of local, national and international events. In addition to wide ranging representation at the various north eastern heads and regattas oarsmen and women of different ages are regularly entered in events further afield.

The Club was successful in the British Rowing Championships in 2010 with Gold in the Open Junior Coxless Pair and also with silver and bronze medals.

In the National Schools Regatta in 2010 the Club won silver in the Fours Cup for First Coxed Fours.

Recent years have also seen the club at Henley. The women's 1st Eight

Eight (rowing)

An Eight is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for eight rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars, and is steered by a coxswain, or cox....

 entered Henley Women's Regatta

Henley Women's Regatta

Henley Women's Regatta is a rowing regatta held at Henley-on-Thames, England. It was formed as a result of the lack of women's events at Henley Royal Regatta and first held in 1988...

 in 2010 for the first time in The Peabody Cup, losing to Headington School Oxford who went on to the final. The 1st Eight rowed in the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup

Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup

The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup is a rowing event at Henley Royal Regatta open to school 1st VIIIs.-History:The event was instituted in 1946 for public schools in the United Kingdom...

 at the Henley Royal Regatta

Henley Royal Regatta

Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...

 in 2008 for the first time in over 40 years. Having pre-qualified again, the 1st Eight was in action in the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in 2009, achieving a win over Reading Blue Coat School

Reading Blue Coat School

Reading Blue Coat School is a boys' independent school in Holme Park in the village of Sonning, in the English county of Berkshire, to the east of the town of Reading...

 in their first race before being knocked out by Abingdon School

Abingdon School

Abingdon School is a British day and boarding independent school for boys situated in Abingdon, Oxfordshire , previously known as Roysse's School. In 1998 a formal merger took place between Abingdon School and Josca's, a preparatory school four miles to the west at Frilford...

 (one of the country's premier rowing schools who went through to the final) on the second day.

There are also frequent trips to various events held on the Tideway

Tideway

The Tideway is a name given to the part of the River Thames in England that is subject to tides. This stretch of water is downstream from Teddington Lock and is just under long...

 in London, the Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre

Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre

The National Watersports Centre, Holme Pierrepont is located in the hamlet of Holme Pierrepont near Nottingham, England and on the River Trent....

 and Dorney Lake

Dorney Lake

Dorney Lake is a purpose-built rowing lake in the United Kingdom. It is located at grid reference near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and near the towns of Windsor and Eton, close to the River Thames. The lake is privately owned and financed by Eton College, who have spent £17 million...

.

International Events

The Club also trains and competes internationally.

Each year there is an annual training camp, usually to Gent with entry into the Gent Spring Regatta in Belgium. In 2010 the Club won gold, silver and bronze medals in a number of categories. In 2011 the camp was on Lago d'Iseo in Italy, based in Lovere

Lovere

Lovere is a town and comune in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, Italy, at the north-west end of Lake Iseo.The houses in the city have overhanging wooden roofs, typical of Switzerland, united with the heavy stone arcades of Italy; it faces a lake and has a semicircle of mountains behind...

.

In addition, the Club visited the USA in October 2008 to row in the Head of the Charles Regatta

Head of the Charles Regatta

The Head of the Charles Regatta, also known as HOCR or HOTC, is a rowing race held on the penultimate complete weekend of October each year on the Charles River, which separates Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The race is named the "Head" of the Charles because it is a head race...

, achieving an excellent result for their first visit.