Royal Canoe Club
Encyclopedia
The Royal Canoe Club founded in 1866, is the oldest canoe club in the world and received royal patronage in the 19th century. The clubhouse is based at Trowlock Island
Trowlock Island
Trowlock Island lies in the River Thames, just upstream of Teddington Lock and close to the Middlesex bank, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England.It is home to 29 bungalows as well as the Royal Canoe Club's clubhouse and gym...

 on the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

 in Teddington
Teddington
Teddington is a suburban area in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London, on the north bank of the River Thames, between Hampton Wick and Twickenham. It stretches inland from the River Thames to Bushy Park...

 near central London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. The club promotes canoeing
Canoeing
Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....

 and kayaking
Kayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...

, focusing on flatwater, sprint and marathon disciplines. Members of the club have represented Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 at World Championships and the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

.

History

John MacGregor
John MacGregor (sportsman)
John MacGregor , nicknamed Rob Roy after a renowned relative, was a Scottish explorer, travel writer and philanthropist. He is generally credited with the development of the first sailing canoes and with popularising canoeing as a middle class sport in Europe and the United States...

, a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 lawyer, popularised canoeing in the late 19th century. He went on extensive tours on the rivers and canals of Central and Northern Europe and the Mid-east in a boat he designed named the 'Rob Roy'. Through a series of books and lectures he formed a group of sportsmen who met in 1866 to form the Canoe Club. The first recorded regatta
Regatta
A regatta is a series of boat races. The term typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas...

 was held at on 27 April 1867. In the same year, Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...

, Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...

, later to become King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...

, became Commodore of the Club and in 1873 the Canoe Club became the Royal Canoe Club by command of Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....

. Evidence to support this exists in club records in the form of correspondence with Whitehall.

International competitors and other members

RCC is the home club of the 2008 Olympic champion in the men's K1 1000 m kayak class, Dr. Tim Brabants
Tim Brabants
Tim Brabants MBE is a British sprint kayaker who has competed since the late 1990s. Competing in three Summer Olympics, he won three medals with one gold and two bronzes .Brabants won the K-1 1000 m European championship at Szeged, Hungary in 2002, the first time a British paddler had...

, who won his gold medal in Beijing on 22 August 2008, and followed this up with the bronze medal in the K1 500m the following day. Along with Brabants, the club membership includes several world championship medallists (among them Alan Williams, Grayson Bourne, Chris Canham, Steve Jackson, Jeremy West) and Ian Wynne
Ian Wynne
Ian Wynne is a British sprint canoer who competed in the early to mid 2000s. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he won a bronze medal in the K-1 500 m event at Athens in 2004....

 who won a bronze medal
Bronze medal
A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...

 at the Olympic Games in Athens 2004. The club provides support and coaching for all levels from beginner to advanced. More recently a junior member of the club became Junior World Champion for Marathon as well as a medallist at the European Championships.

Club members represented Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 at the Berlin Olympics in 1936 when canoeing was introduced as an Olympic sport and at every Olympic Games since. In 1922, Edward, Prince of Wales (later to become the Duke of Windsor
Duke of Windsor
The title Duke of Windsor was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937 for Prince Edward, the former King Edward VIII, following his abdication in December 1936. The dukedom takes its name from the town where Windsor Castle, a residence of English monarchs since the Norman Conquest, is...

), became Commodore, a position he held until he acceded the throne.

A notable member of the club was Warrington Baden Powell (brother of Lord Baden Powell). Uffa Fox
Uffa Fox
Uffa Fox CBE was an English boat designer and sailing enthusiast.-Life:Uffa Fox was born on the Isle of Wight and was raised in East Cowes. He lived for a while in Puckaster on the Isle of Wight.-Work:...

 was not a member, but was nevertheless closely associated with members of the club including Roger de Quincey for whom he designed "Wake".

Facilities

The Club is located in Teddington
Teddington
Teddington is a suburban area in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London, on the north bank of the River Thames, between Hampton Wick and Twickenham. It stretches inland from the River Thames to Bushy Park...

. The premises of the club are also used by Walbrook Rowing Club
Walbrook Rowing Club
Walbrook Rowing Club is an amateur rowing club, on the River Thames in England. It is situated at on the Middlesex bank of the Thames just above Teddington Lock at Trowlock Island, Teddington...

, The Skiff Club
The Skiff Club
The Skiff Club is the oldest skiff and punting club in existence, having been founded in 1895. It is based on the River Thames in England, on the Middlesex bank between Teddington Lock and Kingston upon Thames....

 and Kingston Royals Dragon Boat Racing Club
Kingston Royals Dragon Boat Racing Club
Kingston Royals Dragon Boat Club is based in Teddington on the non-tidal Thames. Kingston Royals DBC was founded in 1988 as the dragon boat racing section of the Royal Canoe Club , and was one of the first dragon boat clubs to race in the UK. The section was formed from a mixture of RCC members...

.
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