OBUBC was founded in 1978 as the Oxford Polytechnic Boat Club where it was given its first home with Oxford Falcon Rowing and Canoeing Club and begun to enter competitions as a composite Polytechnic/Falcon crew. In 1986, OPBC made its first competitive appearance at Henley Royal Regatta, only to get knocked out in the second round. This laid the foundation of what would become many successes at the regatta, with the first win for the men at Henley Royal Regatta in the Temple Challenge Cup in 1993. REF add 2000 marked the first Olympic success of the boat club with Ben Hunt-Davis, Fred Scarlett and Rowley Douglas clinching gold medals in the Men's Eights at the Sydney Olympics. Steve Williams achieved gold at the World Championships, along with Alex Partridge who won U23 gold. Steve Williams went on to win gold at the Athens Olympics, as well as becoming world champion in 2005 with Alex Partridge. Again in the 2008 Beijing olympics, Steve Williams defended his Olympic title with Alastair Heathcote, Tom Lucy and Alex Partridge, all gaining a silver medal at Beijing. Carla Ashford and Caroline O'Connor finished fifth in the final of the women's eight. In 2009, the Boat Club claimed victory over Yale University in the Prince Albert Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. London 2012 saw further success with the Chambers brothers of Peter and Richard gaining two silver medals in the LM4- event. Alex Partridge also gained a bronze medal in the M8+. In 2014, the Boat Club brought the Temple Challenge Cup back to the UK for the first time since 2006, winning against the freshmen crew from Brown University. In 2016, the Boat Club repeated the 2014 feat - following a narrow quarter-final in 2015 to eventual winners A.S.R. Nereus, NED - by winning the Temple Challenge Cup once again, against the 2V crew from Harvard University. In 2017, OBUBC went one step further again - after setting a new course record in Ghent, as well as a domestic national record of 5:30 at Eton Dorney, the boat club won the Temple Challenge Cup with an entirely new lineup for the third year in four, as well as the Ladies' Challenge Plate with the 2016 crew. This feat, doing 'The Double', had not been done before by any university program.
Boat House
The Oxford Brookes New Boat House sits on a 10 km stretch of the River Thames that is classed as one of the best non-tidal stretches of water in the country. This length, width and quality of the water has been a key factor in Brookes’ success, allowing both men’s and women’s crews to train together, in an enjoyable but highly competitive environment. When combining this style of training with our steadily growing world-class fleet of boats, winning becomes second nature. In June 2013 marked the opening of the new boat house on the thames designed by architects Spratley Studios. The vision was to expand and update an outgrown, outdated building to produce a state-of-the-art facility, fit to support the demands of World and Olympic medallists and create an environment in which top-class athletes can shine. The contemporary interpretation of local agricultural buildings, compliant with stringent environmental and ecological benchmarks, underpins the concept. The simplistic gable form echoes a resplendent Tithe Barn on the banks of the Thames, a discreet silhouette within the landscape. The new facilities include land-based training areas, extra boat storage and large changing rooms elite crews.
Taurus Boat Club
Taurus Boat Club is the Alumni club of Oxford Brookes University. The Taurus Boat Club is for past oarsmen and oarswomen that were former alumni of Oxford Polytechnic & Oxford Brookes University with the allowance of current Brookes welcomed to join. Taurus won the Britannia Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in 2013.
