Henley Adaptive Rowing in History

A factoid to share in your hospitality marquee at Henley Royal Regatta this weekend. Who was the adaptive rowing crew in the UK and which event did they row in? – Worcester College for the Blind.

• “The first crew with a visual impairment to compete at Henley Royal Regatta was in 1927 during a heat of the Thames Challenge Cup (Worcester College for the Blind v. Thames Rowing Club). Rowing was introduced to Worcester College for the Blind in 1913 by George Clifford Brown, a progressive Headmaster. Brown appears to have decided to resolve the problem of demonstrating equality by only promoting the sports in which his students could compete without modifications, so that they would be regarded as equivalent to their fully-sighted peers.”

Rupert Cross who rowed bow for Worcester in that historic race also became an Oxford Law Professor and academic – the first Law Professor in the United Kingdom who was blind.

Thanks Simon Goodey who is also a sort of unofficial archivist for all things rowing Britain with a personal collection of over 800 rowing books and 2000 rowing periodicals.  Great to see VI rowing return to the Henley stretch a week ago.