University Boat Clubs in historic vote to unite women, men and lightweights

Members of the Cambridge Boat Clubs vote for a ‘bright new, light blue, future’ as part of a combined Cambridge University Boat Club.

The separate Cambridge University Boat Clubs before claiming a second succesive double against Oxford in 2019CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY BOAT CLUB

by Natasha Dangoor

This article is 6 years old

Tuesday April 28 2020, 11:17am

Cambridge’s mens, womens and lightweight Boat Clubs have “voted overwhelmingly” to form a single Cambridge University Boat Club (CUBC) to compete in future editions of the Boat Race against Oxford.

The notion to create a newly combined Cambridge University Boat Club was first raised at a meeting convened by Vice-Chancellor Stephen Toope in September 2018, and the vote is described as a “decisive step” in the unification of all three clubs.

The announcement comes just over a month after the news that the 2020 Boat Race would not take place for the first time since the Second World War due to government restrictions on large public gatherings as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

Annmarie Phelps, the new CUBC Chair elect, stated that “after last year’s dominating performances across the Boat Races this is a huge step forward for the future of rowing at Cambridge University.”

Oxford-Cambridge boat race will not go ahead, for the first time since end of WWII

“Bringing all our talented student athletes, staff and alumni together into a single organisation is a once in a generation opportunity to create a modern, sustainable and successful new club that is truly fit for the future.”

Professor Toope and Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education Graham Virgo described their “delight” that “the members of the University Boat Clubs have voted overwhelmingly to form a single rowing club.”

“In these uncertain times, this decision places Cambridge University high performance rowing in a very strong position for the future.”

“We are grateful for the hard work of the representatives of the boat clubs and others who have done so much to unify the boat clubs,” they added.

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