Molesey Boat Club (MBC) is located just upstream of Hampton Court Palace in south-west London, in the community of East Molesey and Hampton Court Village. The club is ideally situated out of the hectic city life, yet with a direct connection to central London, taking half an hour by train from Hampton Court Station to Waterloo.
MBC is a GB Rowing Team High Performance Programme and is also an active community rowing club. No other club manages to combine these two aspects of the sport. Molesey provides its members with opportunities at every level, whether that’s the juniors just starting their journey in the sport or the masters still finding enjoyment in it. Training alongside athletes who aspire to national selection and Henley Royal Regatta wins, there’s an understanding that success at the club requires everyone to play their own small part.
Molesey has been associated with success in rowing since its inception in 1866, through to its present-day Olympians and Paralympians. In 2024, it was the only club to win medals at the Olympic Games (Holly Dunford, Ed Fulller, Josh O’Brien, Annie Caddick, Samuel Murray), U23 World Rowing Championships (Lily Abbot and Amber Harwood) and U19 World Rowing Championships (Olivia Cheesmur). Were you to go back a little bit further, you would find athletes such as Andrew Triggs-Hodge, Mo Sbihi, Beccy Muzerie (née Girling), and the Searle brothers (Johnny and Greg) training at the club. A unique aspect of Molesey is how Olympians, Henley Royal Regatta winners, and former squad members remain connected to the club through the ‘Leg-ends’ squad, who often give the current high-performance squads a run for their money at weekend training.
The junior programme runs squads for J14-18 rowers, including learn-to-row courses for those aged 12+. The focus of the younger squads is on learning and enjoying their time on the water, with a slow, intentional shift towards performance as they progress through the age groups. At the top level, the club offers two avenues: a performance squad for those looking to compete on the national stage and pursue selection for the GB-France, Coupe, or World Rowing Championships, and a club squad for those wanting to keep rowing at a more relaxed pace. Generally, the junior programme is sculling-focused, with The Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup and The Fawley Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta being key targets, but athletes are also given the opportunity to sweep in their later years.
Jack Gilligan, the Junior Head Coach, leads the programme and is supported by several experienced professional and volunteer coaches, most notably Peter Sheppard of the GB Rowing Team.
The club has produced many junior internationals in recent years, most notably Holly Dunford, Olivia Cheesmur, and Theo Darlow. The junior squad has strong connections with both British and overseas universities and supports athletes looking to make the next step in their lives, both on and off the water.
The Lead Coach at Molesey is Sam Tuck, and he is supported in the club’s operations by Development Coach Ellie Stevens. Tuck primarily coaches the women’s squad, recently leading them to The Wargrave Challenge Cup in 2025. This was the first win at Henley Royal Regatta for Molesey women in the club’s history. His opposite number is the men’s coach Sam Sheppard, who joined the club in September 2025 from Oxford Brookes University. Having competed at the club as an athlete, Sheppard became an Assistant Coach at Brookes before leading their program last season. Both Tuck and Sheppard coach on the GB coaching team at the U23, U19, and FISU competitions.
Molesey received funding from British Rowing, with the primary goal of producing Olympians of tomorrow. Alongside this, Henley Royal Regatta is a very clear target throughout the season. Being one of the renowned clubs in the sport, Molesey doesn’t turn up to compete; they turn up to win. The senior squads at Molesey have had a fantastic few years, with the women becoming particularly notorious over the past few years. Both the men’s and women’s squads train together on largely similar programmes, enjoying each other’s success as much as their own personal progress
A key part of the senior squad, as well as our long-term members, are our gap-year athletes. Every year, we have male and female athletes joining us for a season post-school or post-university, looking to make the transition into the next stage of their rowing career or achieve that goal they didn’t quite make. These athletes regularly have a huge amount of success and gain invaluable experience to help further their ambitions, be that longer term with the club or as a way of boosting their recruitability to your dream university. The coaching team works with them to help find accommodation and employment for their time at the club and beyond, with many returning post-university.
Alongside a top coaching team, Molesey’s secret to success is the stretch that we are lucky enough to row on. The reach from Sunbury Lock to Molesey Lock is one of the calmest and most protected in the country. Just under 5k of glassy water shared by only two other clubs (Hampton School/LEH) makes the stretch an absolute dream to train on, from steady paddles in pairs or singles to battle paddling side by side in eights.
With an entire fleet of high-performance racing shells, a purpose-built rowing gym, an indoor rowing tank, as well as in-house physio and S&C support, the club is set up to support you in achieving your goals. On top of this, the Molesey café in the clubhouse is a welcome recovery after training; there’s nothing better than catching up for a coffee on the terrace on a Saturday, having beaten a squad of Olympic legends in the morning time trial!
For further information regarding senior rowing, gap years or anything else, please contact Sam Tuck: franz.imfeld@moleseyboatclub.org or Sam Tuck: sam.tuck@moleseyboatclub.org
Want to find out more about Molesey Boat Club? Check out their website.
