Trevelyan College Boat Club Information

Trevelyan College Boat Club (TCBC) is the boat club of Trevelyan College, at Durham University in England. An active north eastern rowing club, it competes on a national level, for example at Henley Royal Regatta and the Head of the River Race. The club runs under the leadership of a structured executive committee and benefits from an annual intake of around thirty novice rowers each year. The club was founded officially in 1976, although there was a history of rowing at the college earlier, with the first boat bought in 1966. It is recorded that an all fresher crew won the Ladies Invitation Race at the university Epiphany Term regatta in 1967.

The alumni club for ex-TCBC members is Drowning Horse Boat Club, a humorous play on Trevelyan Colleges Coat of Arms.

The club is currently housed opposite Durham Amateur Rowing Club east of the city centre and upstream of the 750m racecourse, in a boathouse shared by Josephine Butler College Boat Club, St Johns College Boat Club and Durham Amateur Rowing Club, although other colleges have been known to store boats there. In the past the club has been housed at Hatfield Colleges Boathouse.

The clubs fleet include two 8+s, six 4+s, one 4x+, one 2x/2- and five 1xs. The club also uses Trevelyan Colleges gym for fitness training and runs a circuit session once a week in term time.

The club is run under a structured exec that is elected at the AGM of the boat club, run at the end of epiphany term. The social secretaries of the boat club organise the annual boat club ball held in easter term; "Bash on the Bish" (although recently entitled Gash on the Bish and Lashy on the Bishy), which is held on the Prince Bishop river boat.

In recent years the club has been highly successful. In 2007, the club won the S4 4+ category at the Rutherford Head on the River Tyne, and the Tees Small Boats Head in the S3 4+ Category. In inter-colliegiate events the club won the Senate Cup.

In 2008 the success of the boat club resulted in members being chosen along with members of St Cuthberts Society to represent the University in the Junior 8+ category at BUSA Regatta in Glasgow. At the same time a crew composed entire of Trevelyan rowers competed as the University in the Junior 4+ category, where they won a bronze medal. That year the club also won Durham Small Boats Head S4 4+ category, won the Chester-Le-Street Regatta WN 4+ category, and lost in the final of Durham Regatta in the S4, S3 and S2 4+ categories, in composite crews with Ustinov and Van Mildert Colleges. The club also won the Dyfrig Williams Trophy for the fastest mens 4+ overall in the University Pennant Series. The mens first 4+ also qualified for the Prince Albert Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, losing to the University of Bristol.

In 2009 it was decided that the club had been too long without owning any 8+s, previously the club would train in 8+s owned by Josephine Butler College. The club now owns two 8+s. 2009 also saw TCBC win the 4+ category in the Butler College Novice Head of the River race, at the same time setting the fastest time record for any category.

In summer 2010, the clubs novice mens four won Hexham Regatta. In 2010–11 TCBC club entered many head races starting with The Fullers Head of the River Fours. The Mens 4+ won the Senate Cup Intercollegiate Race regaining the trophy from when the college was last victorious in 2007. The regatta season saw a victory at Durham City Regatta in a Novice Double, a series of successful races saw the 1st four advance to the final of Durham Regatta, but a clash of blades in the opponents lane in the first part of the race saw the four disqualified, even though they finished two lengths ahead of the opponent.

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