How our friendship with RG Benrath started
20th August 1965
Only here for the beer!
As the largest country in Europe, Germany has a surfeit of rivers and lakes and a long tradition of the sport of rowing, not to mention après rowing of an alcoholic nature. By the 1960s, both Germanies – the Federal Republic and the Democratic Republic – had started to make a strong showing on the international scene following the dislocations of the Second World War.
In 1965, three Cygnet members, Messrs Arnold-Gilliat, Burden and McVeigh went to watch the European Rowing Championships in Duisberg, West Germany. While there, they contacted the German Rowing Association for the name of a suitable club where they might try their hands at rowing on the Rhine. In response, they were given an introduction to Ruder-Gesellschaft Benrath, based in a suburb of Düsseldorf, where they were warmly received by Fred Blasberg, Ferdi Picker and Dietmar Hohn.
From this rather impromptu beginning, close and enduring links have evolved between Cygnet and RG Benrath. Indeed, the 60th anniversary of this relationship coincides with Cygnet’s 135th birthday.
RG Benrath subsequently became the first German crew to compete in the Head of the River Race since the Second World War, in 1970, starting a veritable flood of overseas entries. Similarly, Cygnet marked its first overseas entry in 1980 by competing in the Düsseldorfer Marathonrudern, – aka. Rhine Marathon – rowed over a course of 43 kilometres from Leverkuesen to Düsseldorf. Initially treated as a survival course, by 2005 Cygnet crews had honed their coastal rowing skills sufficiently to win the medal for the fastest overseas crew. Cygnet members have also made more relaxed rowing tours of the Mosel, and Benrath tours of the Thames.
Generations pass, but the Head of the River and the Rhine Marathon remain firm fixtures in both clubs’ annual fixtures lists. Socially, Cygnet and Benrath jointly marked their respective centenaries in 1990 and 2008 with much fanfare.
A reminder of the relationship between the two clubs is the ship’s bell that hangs in the bar at the Civil Service Boathouse. This bell, presented by Benrath in 1981, is ceremoniously rung by anyone wishing to buy drinks for all those present in the bar, nay, hearing distance.
Rhine Sagas – Tales from marathons past
