How to get involved with Bentham BC. 

If you want to row for us, then should be reasonably fit, and have achieved a reasonable standard whilst at college or university. 

The top Bentham Boat Club men’s VIII is typically a very smooth row because all on board can still remember the basics, and have retained technical ability.

The limiting factor is fitness. But this year we will be a top 200 crew in the men’s head. 

There is, however, a second Bentham men’s VIII which is suitable for the more rusty oar, and can be seen more as a ‘beer boat.’ But then what’s wrong with that? The apres-row events of the Head certainly are the ideal places for a bit of beer boating. 

You should make your availability to row known to us no later than January, and expect the call up to at least one outing a week, for a minimum of four weeks, prior to the Head.  The top boat may extend this commitment to an arduous (!) two outings a week, for up to six weeks. 

If you fancy a place in the top boat, then you should also be fit enough to score sub 19 minutes on a 5000 metre ergo, and be confident enough to row well in a technically proficient crew. For the second boat, a score of sub 20 minutes would be acceptable. Selection is by coaches drafted in for the pre-head outings, who will only boat the most technically proficient. 

The picture for the women’s boats is very similar. And in the past the top Bentham crews have had the privilege of racing (and losing) against the student crews in the build up to the Heads. A club target, thought, remains TO BEAT THE TOP STUDENT VIIIS. Fitness though will have to improve for this to happen. (But don’t write us off) 

And what happens after the Head? This all depends on the crew, and the commitment. In recent years, a fast Bentham IV made an appearance in the Stewards at Henley Royal, and was tipped for great things, before drawing UL’s top boat in the first round (!). The talk now is of entering a fast VIII to the Thames Cup. Fancy it? 

And for those who fancy smaller venues, and perhaps less challenging, there is absolutely no problem with going on a summer pot-hunt, in a VIII, IV or even a pair. As always, the Bentham Boat Club is what the members chose to make of it. 

Like the students, we row out of the UL boathouse in Chiswick, and continue to be very grateful to the students for allowing us to use all their boats and launches, provided we treat them with utmost respect. 

And all this for the miniscule subscription fee of just £5 a year! How can you not join?

<< Back to Bentham Home