Pembroke College Boat Club (PCBC) is the rowing club for members of Pembroke College, Oxford, one of the college boat clubs in Oxford.
PCBC is supported by the Friends of PCBC, particularly through their scholarship programme.
History Although the exact date for foundation of PCBC is unclear, the club was competing in Eights and Torpids as early as 1842 and had adopted its modern-day flag with the "Rose Gules" (Red Rose) taken from the Pembroke heraldic shield by 1846.
Amongst the giants in PCBC history, two leading Pembroke oarsmen of the 1870–1873 period were the three times President of the Oxford University Boat Club, Robert Lesley, who came up from Radley College and R S Mitchison, an old Etonian. Rowing historians indicate that sliding seats were first used during the Fours racing at Oxford in 1872 by PCBC and that “the new system of sliding seats was first used in Oxford by Lesley’s crew and also by the College (Pembroke) Eight at Henley “.W E Sherwood, p. Pembroke were the first known crew to use seats with wheels.Burnell, Swing Together, Thoughts on Rowing, OUP, Oxford, 1952 In the club minutes it is recorded that the Pembroke crew were the pioneers of the sliding seat at Oxford, using it in the Fours before they left for Henley, and of the seat with wheels for the first time worldwide.It would seem that the Pembroke College Boat Club Minutes provide reliable original source evidence of the truth of the statement
DoddHenley Royal Regatta, 1981 states that London Rowing Club and Pembroke were the first to use the sliding seat at Henley. Pembroke's win of the Visitors’ Cup at Henley has been described as "one of the best races of the whole Regatta".Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 1872 Pembroke won by approximately half a length from University College Dublin, who were using fixed seats. The Dublin crew were regarded as one of the best ever sent to Henley. What is also significant is that Pembroke were using wheels, which were soon discarded by boat builders in favour of greased glass or steel grooves or tubes, but wheels were to return to favour again in 1885. Pembroke then, were not only early adopters of the sliding seat, ahead of others in Oxford, but also pioneers in terms of the materials being used, as they anticipated the later wheeled models of sliding seats which did not become current until 1885 and remain until the modern day.
In 2003, Pembroke achieved a historic victory in the Oxford Summer Eights competition by becoming the first college to win the 'Double Headship', having both men's and women's first boats end the week at the 'Head of the River'. Double Headship has yet to be repeated by any college in the Summer Eights competition, although the competitive years since 2003 has seen both men's and women's boats remain within striking distance of the Head of the River with the women gaining headship in 2018. Consistent ambition to go Head has been the goal: the Men's First Summer Eight (M1) has stayed within the top 5 since 1992.
The club has a reputation for good equipment and coaching, with a refurbished boathouse gym opening in the late 2010s.
In 2013 the M1 Torpid maintained its Headship with female double Olympic gold medallist Caryn Davies at stroke, and also gained the Eights Headship that year. The Women's First Eight was the first to gain Headship from another mixed college in 2000 and held that position for four straight years; they were Head of the River again in 2012 and 2018.
In 2025, the women's side became the first team to win headship for both Torpids and Summer Eights.The W1 Torpid achieved its first Headship in 2025 coxed by the three times World Champion and British Paralympic Gold medallist Erin Kennedy, who began coxing at the club in 2011.
Coaching Recent coaches have included Ben Lewis, current Thames Rowing Club coach; GB coach Rob Dauncey and GB lightweights Chris Bartley, Simon Jones and John Gearing (former-South African international). The current head coach is Laurence Whiteley MBE PLY.
Honours
Headships Eights Men: 1872, 1995, 2003, 2013 Women: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2012, 2018, 2025
Torpids Men: 1858, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1999, 2000 (No racing), 2012, 2013, 2014 (No racing), 2015, 2016, 2017 Women: 2025
Henley Royal Regatta Ladies' Challenge Plate, 1852, 1871 Stewards' Challenge Cup, 1854 Wyfold Challenge Cup, 1857 Visitors' Challenge Cup, 1857, 1872 Thames Challenge Cup, 1868
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 1845 H. Lewis 1845 F. C. Royds 1846 H. S. Polehampton 1852 W. Olliver Meade King 1854 Edward Hooper 1854 W. Olliver Meade King 1856 Richard Townsend 1857 J. Arkell 1858 J. Arkell 1859 J. Arkell 1865 G. C. Coventry 1865 T. Wood 1871 R. Lesley 1872 R. S. Mitchison 1872 R. Lesley 1873 R. S. Mitchison 1875 H. M'd Courtney 1875 A. M. Mitchison 1876 H. M'd Courtney 1876 A. M. Mitchison
YearName 1878 H. B. Southwell 1879 H. B. Southwell 1880 H. B. Southwell 1906 C. H. Illingworth 1929 C. F. Juel-Brockdorff 1939 J. R. Bingham 1956 R. Barrett 1957 R. Barrett 1957 A. Said (cox) 1978 J. R. Crawford 1978 J. W. Wood 1979 J. R. Crawford 1982 S. J. L Foster 1984 J. A. G. H. Stewart 1985 A. M. S. Thomas 1986 A. M. S. Thomas 1989 G. Cheveley 1991 Hamish P. M. Hume 1992 Hamish P. M. Hume 1995 Jeremiah B. McLanahan
YearName 2000 Ben J. Burch 2000 Kajsa McLaren (cox) 2001 Ben J. Burch 2002 Basil Dixon 2002 Ben J. Burch 2003 Basil Dixon 2004 Basil Dixon 2006 Seb Pearce (cox) 2012 Alex Woods 2013 Patrick Close 2019 Anna Carbery (cox) 2021 James Forward 2021 Jesse Oberst (cox) 2023 James Forward 2026 Alex Underwood
Women's boat race YearName 2015 Anastasia Chitty 2015 Jennifer Ehr (cox) 2016 Anastasia Chitty 2017 Florence Pickles 2022 Anastasia Posner 2024 Lucy Edmunds 2024 Annie Anezakis 2025 Annie Anezakis 2026 Annie Anezakis
See also University rowing (UK)
References
External links PCBC website Oxford University Rowing Clubs Friends of PCBC