It can be hard to stand out in the London rowing scene. Coexisting with the big names of Thames, London and Tideway Scullers School it can be hard to differentiate yourself, especially when you are one of seven or eight clubs that all occupy the same stretch. Nestled just the other side of Chiswick Bridge from Tideway Scullers School, and a stones throw away from the purple machine of University of London Boat Club, it would be easy to overlook Quintin Boat Club as just another club in a part of the world where rowing programs can seem a dime a dozen. Scratch beneath the surface however, and you will uncover a club whose consistency over its relatively short yet impressive history, has been a cut above the rest.
Officially founded in 1907, Quintin was originally a vehicle for members of Regents Street Polytechnic Boat Club (now the University of Westminster Rowing Club). A chance to compete as amateurs at Henley Royal Regatta in the face of opposition from the Amateur Rowing Association, who denied working men the opportunity to race in ARA sanctioned events. The club’s namesake, philanthropist and educational reformer Quintin Hogg, was able to send his crews to compete at the highest levels of rowing surprisingly quickly.
Quintin debuted at HRR In 1920 and returned in 1922. The latter was the first of a long line of dark blue Henley appearances that ran unbroken until 1998. Two wins in 1947 (Doubles Sculls and Wyfold Challenge Cups) and two further wins in 1965 (Stewards Challenge Cup) and in 1974 (Thames Challenge Cup) were truly outstanding feats. Six years after that first Henley appearance, Quintin competed at the inaugural Head of the River, one of only a handful of clubs to compete every year since its inception. In a perhaps inevitable move, the Polytechnic Boat Club merged with the club in 1951.
Over the following decades, Quintin kept on rising, with many members achieving success both nationally and internationally. One such member was future GB oarsman and St Paul’s School Boat Club coach Bobby Thatcher, who learned to row at Quintin as a junior before winning gold at the 1992 Junior World Championships in the coxless four.
The modern day Quintin remains true to the ethos of its founder Quintin Hogg: that sport should be used as a tool for the physical and intellectual betterment of all. Whilst the classrooms Hogg installed are now gone, Quintin continues to offer a space for rowing for those who simply wouldn’t have had access without it. Alongside a learn to row program, and as a member of the Chiswick Rowing Trust, Quintin operates as a site for London Youth Rowing and Chiswick School, allowing children from the local area to be exposed to rowing from an early age and grow the sport as much as possible
