CHAIRMAN’S VIEW

Progress on the new balcony continues at pace. The contractors have done a fine job throughout the works at keeping up with the schedule. They have been supported in this by the commitment of the whole project team and the balcony is now really coming together and is starting to look very impressive indeed.

Please see the full update, as well as the update on the fundraising campaign, elsewhere in this edition of The London Roar.

I was very fortunate to have been offered a seat in the Umpire’s launch for the recent match between LRC men’s 1stVIII and the OUBC Blue Boat. It was thrilling to be up so close to the action and I saw great rowing from our crew who seemed to handle the difficult conditions of a high and rising tide better than their opponents over the four pieces.

The racing was exciting, the steering was excellent and although margins were close it was LRC, by virtue of a good length’s advantage in the second piece, who edged the day.

The Club held its Annual Dinner on Thursday, 5th February. The evening was another great success with a full house of over 120 and both the Thames and Wyfold Challenge Cups on display – for which the club extends its thanks to the Henley Stewards.

Annabel and her team served up a delicious meal, following which we were all entertained by speeches from HRR Committee Chair Richard Phelps and our Captain Matt Reeder. There was an atmosphere of celebration throughout the evening following the successes of last year.

Lastly, a word of encouragement to all those members who don’t make it to the Club very often these days to come along once again to catch up with what’s going on and see some familiar faces. With the balcony soon to be completed this would be a great time to make it to the Club. If this appeals then do get in touch and arrangements can be made to meet – it would be great to see you.

Simon Melvin
Chairman, London Rowing Club

CAPTAIN’S REPORT

January continued to be a cold and wet month with river conditions being unfavourable. Unfortunately, Quintin Head at the end of January was cancelled and on one trip to Dorney Lake the squad found the lake frozen! Fortunately the squad and wider club have been able to get on the water and keep rowing on the Tideway, at Dorney and at the Docks. Members have had to adapt to changing boating arrangement during the balcony works and have done so in good spirits. The Club has also been busy across January and February with the annual dinner, the new balcony taking shape, the continued search for a Club rowing coach and work progressing to implement boat maintenance related activities.

OUBC fixtures
At the end of January and start of February the Men’s and Women’s squad competed in fixtures against all four OUBC squads (men, lightweight men, women and lightweight women). These fixtures provide the squad with valuable side by side racing experience over the championship course. This is particularly valuable in the lead up to the Boustead and Rayner cups.

LRC fielded 3 8’s from each of the men’s and women’s squads with each boat racing over 4 pieces. LRC Men’s and Women’s 1st 8’s raced against the Blue Boats, the 2nd 8’s raced the reserve crews (Isis and Osiris) and the 3rd 8’s raced against the OUBC lightweight crews. Racing was competitive and tough with the Oxford boats being only a couple of months out from the Boat Race and Lightweight Boat Race. The Men’s squad 1st 8 came out with 2 wins out of 4 and an overall aggregate win to LRC. The LRC Women’s squad 1st 8 held a similar margin against Oxford across the 4 pieces with OUBC winning each.

LRC annual dinner
On the 5th February the Club held its annual dinner at the club house with over 120 members and guests in attendance. The Club’s events team must be thanked for organising a brilliant evening at which we were able to celebrate a number of successes from across the Club over the past 12 months. We were fortunate enough to have a number of trophies won by the Club on display including the Thames Challenge Cup and Wyfold Challenge Cup won at Henley Royal Regatta in 2025.

Balcony project
The balcony is up (at least mostly) and we are nearing the end of this phase of the work. The RSC and I are preparing for the boat bays to reopen. This will include labelling the racks and adding signs on the inside of the boat bay doors to help with the return of boats to their respective racks and to see which boats are in which bays. We will also be organising a specific time period for members with private boats to return their boats to their original racks. Further communications will be sent about the return of club boats and how this will be managed.

Boat maintenance
Starting in February the Club will begin a trial implementation of a boat condition tracker and maintenance sheet that will allow us to better understand and see the condition of boats. This will support planning of proactive maintenance work. This will initially start with a small trial before hopefully being extended further. It is also essential that members continue to inspect boats before and after outings and report and damage to fleetrepairs@londonrc.org.uk so that this can be logged and looked at.

Club rowing coaching
LRC has been looking for a session rowing coach to support the club rowing groups. Whilst advertisements have been placed and efforts undertaken to identify a coach this has not yet been possible. The Club continues to seek a coach/coaches to run a number of sessions and will be placing further adverts. If members are aware of any suitable candidates please could they email me at captain@londonrc.org.uk

Upcoming races
Unfortunately, after the cancellation of Quintin Head in January the Molesey head races in February have also been cancelled. However, the Club still has a number of events to look forward to. Hammersmith Head will take place at the end of February before a busy March with the Women’s Head of the River Race, the Boustead and Rayner Cups, the Head of the River Race and Vesta International Masters Head of the River Race all taking place.

Matt Reeder
Captain, London Rowing Club

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

See more detail for these events, visit our Calendar of Events…

MEN’S MASTERS REPORT

The cancellation of Quintin Head was a disappointment, however, not unsurprising considering the volume of rain we have seen. That being said, the group remains committed to racing and putting good times down in the upcoming races.

Molesey Vets (fingers crossed this continues) and Hammersmith Head are on the horizon. We have entered the following crews:

Fingers crossed the weather gods will allow us to race.

Onwards.

Jason Bowyer

WOMEN’S MASTERS REPORT

The Masters Women have been putting in solid winter training over the past few months and are excited to see the racing season approach. We are hoping the next race, Hammersmith Head, goes ahead, where we have one C 8+ entered.

Looking further ahead, WEHORR and Vets Head are next on the horizon, and we are planning to enter one eight at each event.

Despite the cold mornings, spirits (and motivation) remain high, helped along by some beautiful winter conditions on the water.

Alex and Amy post session
Photo credits: Soraya Nidai

Saskia Gill

YOUNG IRREGULARS REPORT

Young Irregulars: Late 2025 Round-Up and a Strong Start to 2026

End of 2025 Highlights

At the close of 2025, Camille and Heather headed up to Birmingham to compete in the British Rowing Indoor Championships, both taking on the 2000m challenge in their age categories. Cheered on from afar with a flurry of WhatsApp emojis by the rest of the Young Irregulars, both put in fantastic performances and did the group proud.

Heather returned with a well-deserved silver medal, posting an impressive time of 7:28.8. Alongside her racing success, she raised an incredible £14,525 for the charity Beautiful Inside & Out. On her fundraising page she wrote:

“Rowing has been incredibly important to me, supporting my physical and mental health. The 2k indoor rowing challenge is a new one for me and I'm aiming for a top three position in my age category.”

Safe to say she more than achieved that goal — an extraordinary effort all round.

So far in 2026
The Young Irregulars of LRC have started 2026 undeterred by winter’s chill and showing up with grit and good humour.

Despite cold mornings and the occasional soggy outing on the water, attendance has remained strong and spirits high, proving once again that winter weather is no match for the group’s positive energy.

We’ve also been delighted to welcome several new trialists over recent weeks. These new faces have brought fresh enthusiasm and have been warmly received, quickly embracing the YI ethos both on and off the water.

As the days slowly edge towards spring, the Young Irregulars remain focused on building momentum, strengthening bonds, and making the most of every session

Eilidh McCormick

IRREGULARS REPORT

First, I would like to say a huge thank you to Matt Reeder and his team for facilitating the use of hulls for the Irregulars during the closure of the boat bays over the last couple of months. We have had 3 quads available which, during the Winter months, has invariably been enough. They made a huge effort and it has all been very well organised. Thank you to all.

A few of us with Irish connections have been talking for quite a number of years about doing a Head in Ireland. It is finally happening! The Tribesmen Head of the River in Galway is taking place on the 14th March and to add to the fun its St Patrick’s Day weekend! Having scouted around Galway’s Rowing Clubs at Christmas, we have managed to secure an eight and our cox (Tim Hanford ) is coming from Switzerland to join in the run. Those taking part are Lee Reilly (chief coordinator), Philip Carre, Martin O’Neill, Keith Swabey, Eddie Markes, Andrew Boyle, Mike Newson Davis, Brendan Armstrong and Tim Hanford.

Although it's really a bit of “craic” we are taking it seriously enough to have a tank session with the ever dependable Miles Preston taking us through our paces. (thank you Miles as always). We are also trying to get an eights outing at least once a week and some of us are even getting some fours outings in to get accustomed to sweeping as opposed to sculling.

Tank Session - Eddie, Miles, Clare Lyons Collins, Lee Reilly, Andrew Boyle, Keith Swabey, Martin Quinn and Hugh Lonsdale.

Otherwise some very enjoyable outings have taken place - one of the best with Mike B at stroke, myself , Clare LC and Fiona Young.

Many of us were at the Annual Dinner last week and enjoyed celebrating the Club’s successes over the past year.

Extremely proud we are!

Eddie Markes

CHRIS DODD

The Club was sad to learn of the death of Chris Dodd on 25 January 2026, at the age of 84. Over the last 50 years, he was one of rowing’s most respected journalists and authors. Chris joined London Rowing Club in 1981 and remained a member for almost all the rest of his life.

Christopher John Dodd was born in 1942 in Bristol and was educated at nearby Clifton College. Clifton rowed out of Bristol Ariel’s boathouse and after beginning as a schoolboy cox, he progressed to the stroke seat of Clifton’s second eight. After Clifton, he went up to Nottingham University. He initially rowed there but soon preferred to spend his leisure hours as editor of the student newspaper, where his journalistic career started.

In 1965, Chris joined the Guardian newspaper as a sub-editor, and was mainly based in their London office. However, it was not until 1970 that he began writing about rowing, when he interviewed the Czech “Bob” Janousek, the newly-arrived British national rowing coach. In those days, rowing received much greater press coverage than it does nowadays. Chris remained with the Guardian as its rowing correspondent until 2004 when he moved to the Independent where he worked fora further 6 years. As a rowing correspondent he covered some 40 Boat Races (he once joked that the main reason he joined LRC was because it was the only Embankment club that allowed journalists to use its facilities at Boat Race time!).

Apart from his ‘day job’ in journalism, Chris was involved in founding three magazines: World Rowing, Rowing Voice and Regatta (later Rowing & Regatta). The last of these began in 1987 as a magazine for members of the Amateur Rowing Association (now British Rowing). He was its editor from its first issue until 2002. Being wedded to printed journalism, he was dismayed when Rowing & Regatta went from paper to online in 2020. Despite this preference, in 2016 Chris adopted the website Hear the Boat Sing as the main platform for his writing.

In 1986 Chris was a founding member of the British Association of Rowing Journalists and was Chairman of Media for the 1986 and 1994 World Championships. He was a member of FISA’s media commission from 1990 to 2002.

Arguably, his most notable achievement was his part in founding the River and Rowing Museum in Henley, which opened in 1998. After helping to get the project off the ground, Chris was one of the main people responsible for creating the rowing collection and library and curating special exhibitions and archives. Between 1998 and 2025 the Museum was visited by over 2 million people and amassed a collection of 35,000 objects. It was a sadness to Chris when the Museum was forced to close for economic reasons.

In 2022 Chris was awarded British Rowing’s Medal of Honour for his Outstanding Service to Rowing.

Last but not least, Chris Dodd was a prolific author and it is in that context that he may be best remembered at London Rowing Club. In anticipation of its 150th anniversary in 2006, the Club wished to have its history written. The view was that LRC should commission a ‘proper’ traditional history and Chris was selected for the project. A group including Julian Ebsworth and Tony Owen assisted Chris in providing access to all the Club’s annual reports and newsletters since 1856, as well as manuscripts and photographs recording the Club’s progress over all those years.

As Julian Ebsworth has observed, Chris’s “gifted prose made for gripping and easy reading; his history was very much more than a mere chronological account of events and races raced.” The book entitled “Water Boiling Aft” was duly published in time for the 2006 anniversary and Chris handed a special leatherbound copy to HRH Prince Philip at the clubhouse anniversary reception in May that year. Chris himself described the book as “a story of a vision realised by engaging and dynamic people.” The history was very well received in rowing and publishing circles and copies are still being sold today, ensuring a continuing income for the Club.

In 2006 Chris was instrumental in organising a special display in the Prize Tent at Henley Royal Regatta to mark the Club’s 150th anniversary. In the same year he curated a display about the Club in the River and Rowing Museum.

Finally, in spite of declining health, Chris generously contributed an introductory chapter to the 2023 history of our clubhouse, “On Finches Field”. This drew on the ‘Call to Arms’ chapter he had written in the history, with new information about the premises, The Feathers pub in Wandsworth, which the Argonaut Club used as its base prior to the founding of LRC in 1856.

The Club offers its condolences to Chris’s family and to his many friends in the rowing community.

Jeremy Hudson
Archivist, London Rowing Club

CHRIS DODD’S FUNERAL

Chris Dodd's funeral will take place on Friday, 27th February at 11:30am at St Stephen’s Church, College Road, London SE21 7HW.

If you would like to attend, please email Tim Koch at tim.koch123@gmail.com as soon as possible.

The funeral will be live-streamed on YouTube for remote viewing (available for two weeks): https://youtube.com/live/71ok2d5PbSk?feature=share

There will be a wake after the service at Dulwich & Sydenham Golf Club, Grange Lane, College Road, SE21 7LH. Driving directly from the church to the golf club, you will pass through the last remaining tollgate in London. Payable by card only, the fee is £1.20. You can drive a longer route round to avoid it (just put toll-free into your map app).

We hope you can join us to celebrate Chris’ life and remember the wonderful man he was. Instead of flowers, if you would like to make a donation to The King’s College Hospital Fund, that would be much appreciated: https://supportkings.org.uk/

If you have a favourite photo of you with Chris, please send it to (joannaray@me.com).

OUR NEW BALCONY TAKES SHAPE

The progress on the new balcony since the last London Roar at the beginning of January has been astonishing. A month ago, the pictures were of demolition in progress. Now, the steel frame has been erected, the new balustrade sections are in place, the steel grating that will support the deck is almost finished and soon the timber deck will start to be laid.

The new balustrade looks wonderful and its slim lines allow the façade of the clubhouse to be seen through it in a way which has not been possible for over a hundred years. This is very pleasing indeed.

The width of the new terrace gives a much greater feeling of space and an unexpectedly much finer view of the river looking towards Hammersmith than we have been used to. It will be a very special balcony and a great place from which to watch our crews on the water.

A huge number of people walking along the Embankment have stopped to read the information about the project on the site hoardings, look at the new balcony taking shape, and say how much they like it.

Our contractors have worked hard in wind and rain, mainly both, and we are on track for completion of the main work by the end of the month with the restoration of the bollards following on. This is very good.

The steel beams were lifted in place with a crane and fitted together perfectly.

The corbels have been refurbished, the accumulation of many layers of paint were scraped off and they look splendid with fresh paint and sharp edges.

Each section of the carefully lowered grating weighs 200kg!

In order to save time in construction, the balustrade sections were powder coated off site. The beams, columns and stanchions were painted in the workshop which has also provided a welcome space for the workmen to get dry and have a cup of tea.

The handrail sits over the top bar of the balustrade and is screwed into place from underneath.

The decking planks are made of resin impregnated bamboo and each plank incorporates a non-slip strip made of carborundum. The decking uses a hidden fix system and the planks are clipped into place on rails (the board under the rails is not part of the construction).

Peter Halford

BRITISH ROWING CLUB LEADERS CONFERENCE

On 1st February our Chairman Simon Melvin and I attended the first ever conference organised by British Rowing for officers of clubs around the country. Over 300 people attended what was a professionally organised event in a hotel near Heathrow Airport.

The conference was opened by incoming BR CEO Tom Solesbury. Tom is a former COO of British Athletics, who represented GB in the double and quad sculls in Beijing and London respectively after learning to row at Warwick University and Mortlake Anglian BC.

The purpose of the conference was made clear by Tom when he said that BR had not got things right in recent years. He wanted to involve clubs in a process of change. The matters to address included BR’s responses to safeguarding and cultural issues at club level. He wished to develop rowing’s ability to change lives for the better and help clubs avoid features that could cause disappointment and even feelings of rejection among new members.

The conference sessions developed this theme by showing how clubs could harness the skills and energy of all members to create vibrant communities and legacies for the future.

Here is BR summary of the conference:

BR Conference Summary

Follow-up initiatives include a new Rowing Committee comprising club representatives. If any LRC members would like to engage with BR’s new management and support its initiatives, I would be very pleased to make the appropriate introductions. Please send an email to secretary@londonrc.org.uk.

Andrew Boyle
Hon. Sec., London Rowing Club

NEW MEMBERS

We would like to welcome the following new members to the Club:

Jake Birch
James Durrant
Isabel Hetherington
Bertie Maxwell
Polly Shorrock
Harry Thompson

We hope you will enjoy being part of the London Rowing Club community and will help us build an ever happier and more successful club.

We are always pleased to have more members so, if you know of anyone who you think might like to join the Club, please either let us know or encourage them to get in touch with us themselves.

There is information on becoming a member on our website or you can email the Club’s Membership Secretary.

Andrew Boyle
Honorary Secretary, London Rowing Club

UPCOMING EVENTS

Following December’s successful dinner, the next CLUB SUPPER will take place on Wednesday, 11th March.

The bar will be open from 6.30pm with dinner served at 8pm. All members and their guests are welcome to attend.

The cost is £32 per person for 3 courses. Please book through MCH by 7th March.

Annabel Lawrence
Events Manager, London Rowing Club

REPORTING SAFETY INCIDENTS

All members are reminded that if you are involved in or witness a water safety incident, you are required to report it using the following email address – safety@londonrc.org.uk

The Club will file any necessary reports on your behalf with British Rowing and the PLA. Members should not submit reports directly to either body.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

My thanks to everyone who has contributed to this edition of the London Roar. If you have an idea for an article or would be interested in submitting a piece for inclusion in a future edition, please email me on miles.preston@londonrc.org.uk

Please do not submit an article without first liaising with me.

Miles Preston
Editor of The London Roar