# St Edward's School Boat Club

St Edward's School Boat Club is a rowing club on the River Thames based at St Edwards School Boathouse on Godstow Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire. It is the rowing club belonging to St Edward's School, Oxford (also known as Teddies).

## History

Rowing is one of the major sport choices available to pupils at the School. The club was founded in 1877, 14 years after the school moved to its current site in Summertown. Initially, there was 'skiffing' and four IVs were raced on the canal. Within two years rowing became a compulsory sport in the Lent Term of 1879, alongside cricket and rugby and it was agreed to stage bumping races on 25th March with two Divisions each of six boats. 'Bumpers' as they were known, continued until the 1970s and are being reintroduced in the Autumn term of 2024. Old St Edwardians or OSE (former pupils) have their own rowing club called the Martyrs Boat Club.
In the early years, rowing was an internal sport with school crews racing each other. The first competitive race against another school took place in 1888 against St Mark's Windsor. The first OSE to row in the Oxford vs Cambridge Boat Race was Percy Underhill who rowed for Oxford in 1904. Since then the club has produced many talented oarsmen and women who have competed internationally and at the Olympic Games.
The club is responsible for the founding of the National Schools' Regatta which was first raced in 1947 as the "Colts and Third Eights Regatta". A teacher named Desmond Hill who at the time was responsible for rowing at the School, invited teams from Shrewsbury, Bedford and Radley to race against St. Edwards in Godstow. The club has won the coveted 'Triple' (Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, the Queen Mother Cup at the National Schools' Regatta and the Schools' Head of the River Race) on one occasion in 1984. The Club has won The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta on five occasions. The only British schools to have won the event more than this are Eton College and St Paul's School, London. In 2023, the Boat Club became the first co-educational school to win Gold in Championship events for both boys and girls in the same National School's Regatta, winning the Jim Mason Plate for Girls Coxed Fours (for the second time) and the Queen Mother Challenge Cup for Boys Eights (for the fourth time).

## Honours
### National champions

| Year | Winning crew |
| 1975 | MJ16 2+, MJ16 4+ |
| 1976 | J Victor Ludorum, MJ18 2-, MJ16 2-, MJ16 2+, MJ16 4+, MJ16 4- |
| 1977 | MJ18 4+, MJ16 4- |
| 1978 | MJ18 4+ composite, MJ18 8+ composite |
| 1980 | J Victor Ludorum, MJ18 4-, MJ16 2+, MJ16 4+ |
| 1981 | J Victor Ludorum, MJ18 2-, MJ16 2+, MJ18 8+ composite |
| 1983 | MJ18 2+ |
| 1984 | MJ16 8+ |
| 1985 | MJ16 8+ |
| 1993 | MJ16 2x composite |
| 1998 | MJ16 4+, MJ14 1 x |
| 2000 | MJ18 4+ composite |
| 2004 | WJ18 4- composite |
| 2005 | W4- composite |
Key
* M men, O open, W women, +coxed, -coxless, x sculls, J junior, 18 16 age group

### Schools' Head of the River

| Year | Winning crew |
| 1983 | Championship 8+ |
| 1984 | Championship 8+ |
| 1997 | Championship 8+ |
| 1998 | Championship 8+ |

### National Schools' Regatta

| Year | Winning crew (Championship Boys Eights) | Winning crew (Championship Girls Coxed Fours) |
| 1979 | Queen Mother Challenge Cup | |
| 1984 | Queen Mother Challenge Cup | |
| 1993 | Queen Mother Challenge Cup | |
| 2003 | | Jim Mason Plate |
| 2023 | Queen Mother Challenge Cup | Jim Mason Plate |

### Henley Royal Regatta

| Year | Winning crew |
| 1958 | Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup |
| 1959 | Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup |
| 1977 | Special Race for Schools |
| 1983 | Special Race for Schools |
| 1984 | Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup |
| 1986 | Special Race for Schools |
| 1999 | Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup |
| 2023 | Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup |