Brasenose College Boat Club

College Boat Clubs of the University of Oxford Brasenose College Boat Club
Brasenose boathouse (right) and rowing blade colours
Established	terminus ante quem 1815
Head of the River – Men	1815, 1816, 1821, 1822, 1827, 1839, 1840, 1845, 1846, 1852-54, 1865-67, 1876, 1888-91, 1928-31
Location	River Thames (known in Oxford as the Isis)
Sister college	Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Senior Member	Sos Eltis
Men's Captain	Steve McCall
Women's Captain	Letitia Barden and Emily Tench
BNCBC Home

Brasenose College Boat Club (BNCBC) is the rowing club of Brasenose College, Oxford, in Oxford, England. It is one of the oldest boat clubs in the world, having beaten Jesus College Boat Club in the first modern rowing race, held at Oxford in 1815. Although rowing at schools such as Eton and Westminster School Boat Club predates this, the 1815 contest is the first recorded race between rowing clubs anywhere in the world.

In addition to the 1815 "headship", the club has won both the Summer Eights and Torpids headship many times, and has recorded numerous victories in most events at the Henley Royal Regatta.

The club's colours are black and gold, with black blades. The 1st VIII, however, may wear the distinctive "Childe of Hale" colours — red, purple and gold — which are traditional in Brasenose rowing.

Brasenose has a long history on the water. The first amateur race between organised clubs which prepared and trained for the event occurred in Oxford in 1815. In this year, crews from Brasenose College and Jesus College raced for the Head of the River, from Iffley Lock to Mr King’s Barge, which was moored near the current Head of the River public house. The event is also notable for the fact that both crews rowed in eight oared boats, specially built for the purpose. Such recreational rowing as occurred at this time was usually conducted in pairs, or four or six oared cutters. The fact the racing was conducted in eight oared boats gave rise to the event being known as Eights.

In the early days of Oxford college rowing, these two colleges were the only crews competing, and were joined shortly thereafter by Christ Church and Exeter. Students would row to the inn at Sandford-on-Thames, a few miles south of Oxford, and race each other on the way back. The races would start at Iffley Lock and finish at King's Barge, off Christ Church Meadow. Flags hoisted on the barge would indicate the finishing order of the crews. Crews would set off one behind the other, the trailing boat(s) trying to catch, or "bump", the boat ahead. The bumped boat and the bumping boat would then drop out and the bumping boat would start the next day's race ahead of the bumped boat. The aim was to become the lead boat, known as Head of the River.