News & Events
XCI Captain's Log
9th December 2020
Dear Cygnets,
I hope everyone is doing well.
Good Sessions last weekend on the water. Saturday we had a 4x and three singles, Sunday a 4- , 2x and two singles. Let's try to do the most of it before Christmas.
Training this week:
Training sessions are in Fitclub: Please update your availability, and book your slots, to help us plan best.
Weds: Strength & Conditioning with Charlie 18:00-19:00 / 19:15-20:15
Thurs: Erg
Sat: 1st Outing: 07:00
Sun: 1st Outing 07:30
2nd Outing: 09:00 (depending on attendance. Focussing on improving the technical skills ideal to get back into the rhythm for the less experienced)Safety:
- Keep in mind winter is almost here it is very cold and can be very foggy in the morning. Please use lights if required and do not go afloat if the fog means that you can't clearly see the other side of the river.
- Please don't overestimate your abilities and fitness, this includes the velocity of the stream. Don't forget to check weather forecast, tides, including the flag on our webpage.
- Book your slot (including landing time). Don't forget the post-outing log (for tracking purposes).
- Book your erg slot
Any questions please let me know.
Cris
Greg Steene
3rd December 2020
Greg Steene
1950 - 2020
It is with great sadness that we record the death of Greg Steene, who died suddenly on 20th November at the age of 70.
Greg joined Cygnet in the 1970s; a solid stroke or bow side man (see photo below), he powered several Vllls over the head course and proved to be a timely addition to the Plumtree Vlll of 1977, securing several senior B pots in the process at Staines and St Neots regattas.
For a club steeped in the ways of the Civil Service - most members were still public sector employees - Greg was a breath of fresh air hailing, as he did, from the world of boxing. Henceforward, après rowing took on a whole new meaning. Contemporaries, myself included, recall an action-packed night at the ring side in Clapham Town Hall, where Chairman Nick Wylie emerged speckled with blood, and he was only a spectator. Phil Beckett tried to engage an attractive young woman in conversation, only to be informed that her boxing beau was not best pleased.
On hearing the sad news, Dave Wynne, another contemporary, said 'I was thinking about Greg only the other day, about sharing a flat and rowing a novice four with him'. Others recollect a weekend at Stourport Regatta where Greg kept the whole camp site awake all night recounting jokes and bawdy tales that nobody could remember the following morning. Few pots were won on that day.
Jackie, Greg's wife, who survives him, was not above joining the fray, steering Greg and Mike Evans in non-status pairs at Llandaff regatta, notwithstanding warnings that she would need a stomach pump if she fell in. Still, as Mike wryly reflected, it was 'a trip noted more for the visit to Barry Island for the 2.00am bar rather than the rowing'.
Mike reminded us all of Greg's wedding reception where we rubbed shoulders with all the great and the good of the sparring fraternity. Evans sat on a table for non-family guests: 'Conteh, Ted Moult and some other long forgotten show biz types, lots of former boxers and a couple of Krays (but not the twins!). Conteh felt that rowers had much to learn from the boxing community, but not on the drinking front where there was an unmistakable meeting of minds.
A legendary boxing manager and match maker, Greg drifted away from the club and we had not seen him for some years. However, for those of us who were lucky enough to know him, they were memorable times indeed. Greg's son Aleck would be pleased to hear from anybody who would like to share their memories of Greg by posting in the comments below and they will be forwarded to his family.
Paul Rawkins, 2nd December 2020
David Webb
2nd December 2020
David Webb
1943 - 2020
Once in a while, the death of a Cygnet alumnus mines a deep seam of contemporary consciousness: David Webb, an irrepressible 'wet-bob' of Olympian repute, who has died at the age of 77, was just such a man. In early July, his son Nicolas wrote to inform us of his father's sad demise in the hope that someone might remember him; he was not disappointed - within hours a tsunami of memories poured forth from his fellow crewmen, some of whom had not been in contact with each other for decades.
David (Anthony) Webb joined Cygnet in 1970, his short stature and well-honed vocal cords marking him out as a coxswain from the outset. He was initially let loose on a novice lV - Gary Fettis, Jeremy Berrisford, Stuart Fraser and Richard du Parcq - subsequently steering a host of club crews to victory, culminating in Cygnet's first post-war entry (in Thames Cup) at Henley Royal Regatta in 1972 and again in 1973.
Official club photos of the time (below) show David immaculately turned out in his coxswain's regalia (front row, second from right), his inventive mind always thinking ahead. Gary Fettis recalls 'I remember his sartorial elegance which carried through to everything he did. There were no built-in speaker systems in the '70s, so David took it upon himself to install one in our Vlll and very neat it was too with all the speakers placed inside Harrods' plastic bags to keep them dry'.Other Cygnet contemporaries remember an insatiable socialite who always knew where the best parties were and, more to the point, how to gain entry to them. Norman Cowling wistfully recounted how 'he frequently tried to get us to drink what he called an Evelyn Waugh noonday reviver - a lethal mix of Guinness, gin and ginger beer - I never knew if it was his own invention'. By the time of my era in the 1980s it had become the Tideway tonic.
Then, as now, 'club hopping' was not uncommon. David decamped to Thames Tradesmen RC in 1973 and thence to London RC where he steered the well-known and successful pair of McLeod and Christie, which gave him his entrée to the 1976 Montreal Olympics. A second Olympic appearance with the same duo followed in Moscow in 1980. At Cygnet, it remains a source of enduring pride that the 1972-3 crews produced two world-class GB competitors: David in the Olympics and Stuart Fraser in the World Championships (1975-76).
Aside from rowing and gate-crashing all the best venues in town, David retained a lifelong interest in music and the arts. He played violin and piano to a high standard early in life, mastered the art of conducting and went on to play percussion in the National Youth Orchestra. At Oxford, he read Greats/Classics at Hertford College, albeit without much enthusiasm, before heading north to complete a degree at Hull (where he apparently made Larkin's acquaintance).
The world of work brought new challenges, initially as a manager for the Festival Ballet/English National Ballet, followed by careers in the Civil Service and British Telecom. Retirement in East Sussex with wife Veronica held many happy hours playing the piano, watching sport, smoking his pipe and cigars and quaffing the occasional ale or two.
But perhaps the last word should go to son, Nicolas: "many thanks for passing on the message (of his passing) to his Cygnet contemporaries, it's been enormously heart-warming to read the anecdotes and memories. Old teammates are more than welcome to post their memories in the comments below and they will be forwarded to David's family.
Paul Rawkins, November 2020
Rowing and Racing Calendar
