About Thames

1870's

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The 1980's

National Champions in women's coxed fours, 1980

Caroline Casey (bow), Alexa Forbes, Sally Bloomfield, Bernadette Casey (stroke), Susie Hall (cox)

Caroline and Bernadette were daughters of Noel Casey, a successful Vesta oarsman and coach who in 1977 set up a junior women's group at Thames. This group was very successful, and Noel later progressed to coaching the senior women, being a vital ingredient in the success of the eighties and nineties.

National Champions in women's coxed fours, 1981

Caroline Casey (bow), Sarah Hunter-Jones, Jane Cross, Bernadette Casey (stroke), Sue Brown (cox)

Noel Casey coached this exceptional women's crew. They won the elite fours at Nottingham International Regatta and the National Championships. They became the first Thames women's crew to compete in the World Championships, finishing seventh at Munich.

Jane Cross was the daughter of the former RAF and Thames oarsman from the 1950s, Ken Cross. Sue Brown had earlier in the year enjoyed considerable news coverage when she became the first female participant in the Boat Race, coxing Oxford to victory.

National Championships, 1983

Silver medallists in quadruple sculls: Jean Rankine (bow), Penny Haslam, Pauline Rayner, Stephanie Price (stroke), Christine Letch (cox)

This was Thames's best season for many years, with 47 wins regatta wins.

Head of the River Fours, 1985

Winners of the women's division: Pauline Rayner (bow), Nina Streeter, Priscella Plummer, Heather Brown (stroke)

Soon after this race, Heather Brown, the most successful of the Thames women, a former winning Cambridge Blue who scored fourteen victories in 1985, was tragically killed when driving back from Henley after a training session with the ARA squad. Charming and dedicated, she was only 23 and her death was a sad loss to the Club and to British rowing. The following year, a new Club eight was named in her memory.

Winners at Ostend, 1985

Steve Jones (bow), Gavin Reddin, Mark Kerridge, John Robson, Dan Badcock, Chris Jones, Mike Cowie, Lee Brown (stroke), Gary Herbert (cox)

The Thames first men's eight won both the 2000 metre and sprint events at Ostend. In the Ladies Plate at Henley, Thames drew Njord (Leiden University), beating them by 1 length, but lost to Vesta in the next round by 1/2 length after a fiercely fought race.

The Thames Cup eight, 1988

Photograph by John Shore

T.G. Hockley (bow), J. Ferraro, N. Roullier, N.B. Copley, A.S.E. Johnson, A.J.R. Inglis, J. Woodiss-Field, S.P. Austin (stroke), T. Lohmann (cox)

The Thames Cup Eight of 1988, which became the first Thames crew since 1962 to reach a Henley final. They beat Bedford, Lea, Trinity College, Dublin and London in the early rounds. In the semi-final they met University College, Galway who were disqualified after a blade clash. In the final Tideway Scullers proved too strong, winning by 1 1/2 lengths.

It is worth noting that stroke Steve Austin (still a familiar face at Thames and the Duke's Head) weighed in at only 10 stone 7. In fact Steve claims that he was even lighter, but weighed in with spanners in his pockets at the insistence of the rest of the crew!

Open eight, Henley Women's Regatta 1988

Photograph by John Shore

Julie-Anne Baines (bow), Pat Harkness, Caroline Christie, Helen Layng, Lesley Baguley, Sarah Bolton, Miriam Batten, Elizabeth Banks (stroke), Tim Lohmann (cox)

This was the first year of Henley Women's Regatta - note the fact that it is on the reverse course. Surprisingly, Thames came away empty-handed, losing their semi-final of the open eights by a length to the ARA squad eight, who beat all their other opponents easily

Great Britain Women's Lightweight coxless four, 1989 World Championships, Bled

Susan Key (bow), Rachel Hirst, Joanna Toch, Katie Brownlow (stroke)

This crew, with Sue Key and Katie Brownlow from Thames, won at Lucerne but was squeezed out by China in the closing stages of the final at the World Championships, taking the silver.