Downing College Boat Club (or DCBC) is the rowing club for members of Downing College, Cambridge.
History Despite the college admitting undergraduates in 1821, Downing's boat club did not form until 1863, with their first race being in the spring of 1864.Durack, John; Gilbert, George; Marks, Dr. John (2000). The Bumps: An Account of the Cambridge University Bumping Races 1827-1999 The men's 1st VIII did not feature regularly in the 1st division of the Lent and May Bumps until the 1960s. The club first became Head of the Mays in 1982, a position it lost in 1983 but then regained in 1984. The head crew was coached by Downing alumnus Graeme Hall, who was the stroke of the Cambridge crew which won The Boat Race 1968 and again in 1969, and coached the British Men's VIII to win the silver medal in Rowing at the 1980 Summer Olympics.
In 2018, the first indoor rowing training tank in the East of England was built in the club's boathouse.
Honours Boat Race representatives The following rowers were part of the rowing club at the time of their participation in The Boat Race.
Men's boat race
YearName 1868 W. F. MacMichael 1869 W. F. MacMichael 1963 M. V. Bevan 1964 M. V. Bevan 1968 C. S. Powell 1968 G. F. Hall 1969 C. S. Powell 1969 G. F. Hall 1977 C. M. Horton 1978 C. M. Horton 1978 G. Henderson (cox) 1979 P. W. Cross 1979 G. Henderson (cox) 1980 A. D. Dalrymple 1981 M. J. S. Clark 1981 A. D. Dalrymple 1982 B. M. Philp 1983 B. M. Philp
YearName 1985 J. D. Hughes 1985 Stephen M. Peel 1986 J. D. Hughes 1986 Stephen M. Peel 1987 Richard A. B. Spink 1987 Stephen M. Peel 1988 Richard A. B. Spink 1990 Richard C. Young 1992 James H. Behrens 1992 Daniel Justicz 1993 James H. Behrens 1996 Rob M. Waller 1997 Roger Pim 2019 Callum Sullivan 2025 Ollie Boyne
Women's boat race
YearName 2015 Holly Hill 2016 Théa Zabell 2016 Zara Goozée 2017 Holly Hill 2018 Théa Zabell
The club has had several rowers achieving Half-Blue colours for the Lightweight Boat Races, including James Nash (Spare Pair 2026), Edward Townsend (Lightweight 2022), Gianluca Maffi (Spare Pair 2022, 2023, Lightweight Boat and President 2025), and Livia Lisi-Vega (Lightweight 2023).
Gallery
References
External links CUCBC/ Cambridge University Combined Boat Club Downing College Boat Club