Located on the Molesey stretch of the Thames, the boys in yellow-and-black of Hampton School Boat Club have been a key player in British schoolboy rowing for over 50 years.
Founded in 1956, Hampton School Boat Club was situated at Molesey Boat Club until 2000, when the club’s Millennium Boathouse was opened by Sir Steve Redgrave and Ann Redgrave. Around 2km from Platts Eyot, this location gave Hampton access to a calm, uninterrupted stretch of water, fairly isolated from the crowded mass of schoolboy clubs on the Tideway. This is also where the school hosts two head races per year, Hampton Head, and Hampton Small Boats Head. An all-boys squad, Hampton School has develops athletes of all ages, ranging from 13 to 18, with an impressive fleet of Hudson eights to match.
Despite a slow start to their rowing story, once Hampton School got up to speed, they became a dominant force in British Schoolboy competition. Hampton secured the Triple – winning School’s Head of the River Race, National Schools’ Regatta, and Henley Royal Regatta all in the same year – three times in the 1980’s. Whilst performance at the summer regattas is usually the focus of most clubs, Hampton School seems to excel in spring head racing season. Notoriously, their Championship First Eight has taken the win at School’s Head no less than nine times in the club’s history. Many would argue that the club’s most impressive performance to date has been at that race, where in 2013, across all age groups, Hampton took home a total of 63 gold medals, showcasing the strength and depth of the club.
Hampton School Boat Club also boasts an impressive group of alumni, most notably brothers Jonny and Greg Searle, who took home the gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the coxed pair. Hampton alumni are also frequently found at Oxford and Cambridge, rowing in the Boat Race crews. In fact, in 2003, two sets of Hamptonian brothers, James and David Livingston, as well as Matthew and Ben Smith, all rowed in Boat Race together. Ben and James rowing for the light blues of Cambridge, while Matthew and David donned the dark blue of Oxford.
More recently, an increasing number of Hampton rowers have found themselves selected for the Junior GB Rowing Team, with over a dozen athletes in the last three years having raced at the J16 GB France Regatta, the Coupe de la Jeunesse Regatta, and the Junior World Rowing Championships.
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