News & Events
Cygnet Captaincy Update – April 2026
23rd April 2026
Evening all,
Now the Head season has come to a close, and we move into the regattas (the first being Hammersmith this weekend) I thought i would give a brief update from the captaincy.
Head season round up
Cygnet has fielded competitive 8+s in both Hammersmith Head and HORR, and a 4x in Vets Head. Hammersmith Head - 293rd and 11th in the division.HORR - 312th overall and 14th in the small club. Importantly though, as the crew passed the club they were overtaking the crew in front.Vets head - 6th in the OP D 4X-
Overall it was a fitting end to the head season, showing that the hard work in the shed has paid off, and set us up well for the summer (arguably more enjoyable) regatta season.Training update
Well done to all those who did a 2k last week, and for those that havent we will have another in a few weeks so no escape! Now the weather is improving, it has been great to see more of the squad down at the club ( "fair weather rowers" ) and look forward to this continuing throughout the summer season. Tuesday night sessions have returned, starting the 28th April. 7pm OTW, so please arrive before this (6.45). Note additionally, these sessions will only be ran with a minimum of a 4 man boat, so please sign up on fitclub.Scamp
Scamp will be held over the weekend of 5th – 7th June, to coincide with Walton and Weybridge regatta. More details on specifics to follow, but please mark the diary.Dates for the diary
- Boat naming ceremony 23rd May
- Scamp 5th-7th June
- Cygnet OGM 19th July
Please continue to update on fitclub your availability for the various regattas, outlined in the below email chain.Learn to Row
The club is looking to run a learn to row course during the summer/early autumn, but require volunteers to help run this! It is a great way to get to meet the new members, and encourage the next crop of Cygnets. Of course you will be supported by the wider Cygnet captaincy and coaching, but please let me know if you want to help out with running this process/want to know more information of what's involved.Club admin
I have been informed there are some outstanding subs and races fees - please can you settle up with our treasurer (or via our website), before naming and shaming begins...Thank you if you have managed to get to the bottom of this email, hugely appreciated!
As ever, please don't hesitate to speak/message me on any thoughts at allJordan
John Simkins
30th March 2026
John Simkins, 1948 – 2026
John Simkins, who has died at the age of 78, joined Cygnet in early 1974. If truth were told, he always regarded rowing as something of an elitist sport, yet as a British Telecom (tunnelling) engineer he perfectly matched the original criteria for Cygnet membership – an employee of the Post Office.
In contrast to the late 60s and early 70s, when graduate civil servants featured prominently among new intakes, Simkins (as he was invariably known) and his cohort were painters and decorators, electricians, plumbers and engineers. While tunnelling was not in high demand, John wasted no time in applying his skills to overhauling the boat trailer, painting the changing room and refurbishing the showers, ably assisted by his contemporaries, among them Noel Durkin, Peter Grebot, Jack Phillips, Nick Wylie and Dave Wynne.
Perhaps somewhat to John’s surprise, he rapidly developed an affinity for rowing. An early triumph was the Len Freeman Cup Novice lVs event in April 1975 which had attracted twelve entries. In the event, John stroked his crew (Messrs Wylie, Wynne and Phillips) to a four-length win, a performance that would be matched in other club events like the Balfour Fours. These were halcyon days: Phil Beckett and Wylie recall carefree outings on summer evenings coached by Alan Azzaro, followed by lengthy debriefings in the club bar afterwards. Beer and, for a short experimental period, wine flowed late into the night.
Winter training presented its own challenges, inviting suggestions of certain lifestyle changes such as moderating one’s alcoholic intake and giving up smoking. For a committed pipe smoker like Simkins, this was out of the question and he never acquiesced, notwithstanding missives from on high. Thus, minutes of a committee meeting in February 1976 noted that the captain suggested, to general agreement, that smoking in the showers and the changing room was undesirable. A notice making the committee’s view clear was duly posted (and firmly observed in the breach).
Despite this breach of etiquette, by now it was becoming clear that Simkins was seen as a safe pair of hands, always a bad sign in a bureaucracy-bound club like Cygnet, and by 1976 he had been sucked into the committee. Little did he know that he would be on fast track to higher office. Late 1976 found the club with a pool of 20+ senior C oarsmen, an iconic coach (George Plumtree) and a contested captaincy election. In the event, Richard du Parcq defeated John Bull to become captain, John stepped in as deputy and Nick Wylie as vice. And so, the stage was set for the Plumtree Years.
Throughout 1977–78, John rowed in the powerhouse of the Plumtree VIII (Pictured below at four in the senior C pennant winning VIII of 1977) while acting as George’s all-important point man, taking the pulse of the crew and conducting a delicate balancing act between coach and captain. Nothing less than six days training a week would do and John ensured that we all kept up to the mark, although he loathed doing sprint runs (in wellington boots) to the band stand and back before outings.
Nevertheless, the training paid off, and a bunch of rookie senior Cs ascended through the ranks to senior A by the close of 1978, having made two appearances in Thames Cup at Henley Royal along the way. John more than played his part, rebuilding the Joe Lee, an anachronism of a boat (pictured below), convincing a wavering crew to enter Henley in 1977 and pushing hard for a new boat – a state-of-the-art Carbocraft no less – in 1978.
When Alan Azzaro stepped down as captain in late 1978, John was the obvious choice for the job; he was joined by Richard Kemball-Cook (deputy) and Phil Beckett (vice). The victory years of 1977–78 were a hard act to follow and 1979 proved to be an uneventful year on the water, yet John kept the show on the road with the same steadying hand he always displayed.
By the mid-1980s, a romantic interest (Gill) found him transferring his allegiance to Auriol Kensington Rowing Club where he swiftly ended up with the task of secretary of Hammersmith Regatta. One of his last appearances on the water at Cygnet was in the 1990 Business Houses Head (pictured below, John third from right, back row) when the club marked its centenary with a captains’ VIII.
Sadly, ill health led to Gill’s untimely demise. John took redundancy from BT, started a boat chandlery business in St Neots and qualified as a gas engineer to ‘MOT’ pleasure boats. Somewhere along the way, he met Christine; they married in 2000 and emigrated to Portugal where he ended his days. Christine predeceased him. We are grateful to John’s niece, Lorraine, for informing us of his passing. John’s funeral was held in Portugal on 19 February. There will be a private customary sprinkling of his ashes on the Thames at some point, followed by a memorial gathering later in the year.
As fellow Cygnet member Rod Beer commented on being informed of John’s demise, he was an unassuming soul who loved his rowing and the Club. Whatever else, he surely hid his light under a bushel.
Paul Rawkins, 27 March 2026
Cygnet Captaincy Update – February 2026
20th February 2026
Afternoon All
It's been a while since I've sent any emails around, so – thought it was about time – lots of dates so calendars at the ready please!
First of all its been great seeing the shed so full over the last few weeks – we have a great structured plan in place at the moment, so absolutely encourage everyone to continue to commit to the shed sessions, and I'm confident we will see the rewards in the summer when we spend more time on the water.Key dates for the diary
As promised, this is a provisional regatta plan for the summer - please hold in your diaries to avoid any unfortunate clashes!- HORR 28th March
- Hammersmith Regatta 25th April
- Chiswick Regatta 2nd May
- Borne at Chiswick Regatta 9th May
- Peterborough Regatta 30th May
- Walton and Weybridge Regatta 6th June
- Barnes and Mortlake Regatta 13th June
- Marlow Regatta 20th June
- Kingston Regatta 11th July
- St Neots Regatta 26th July
- Henley T&V 1st August
7th March
A group of 4 civil servants ("Team Ordinary") will be joining us for some rowing training, as part of their preparation of rowing the Atlantic! More details to follow, but please make every effort to make yourself available to row with them.Weekend of the 28th March
As per tradition our German friends, from Benrath, will be racing in Vets HORR and so please come down and show your support/grab a beer afterwards.Reminder
With the upcoming tideway head races, please help with volunteering for the boating - this generates vital funds for the joint clubs and so all volunteering is hugely appreciated! See link to sign up - Tideway Head Races - Boating & Catering Volunteers 2025/26 - Google Sheets
Thames Rowing Tour
A message from our President has asked if anyone is interested in the Thames Rowing Tour 13–15th July. This involves rowing from Windsor to Weybridge in boats similar to the Rheine Marathon. Currently there is a contingent of five Benrath members and various Cygnets. Please can you let Nick know if you are interested in this!.That's all from me. As ever drop me a message/email if you have any thoughts or ideas that you'd like to share.
Thanks
JordanColin Dominy
23rd January 2026
Colin Dominy, 1936 – 2026
Earlier this month, Lynne Dominy wrote to the club to inform us that her uncle, Colin Dominy, had passed away on 3rd January. He was just weeks short of his 90th birthday.
Colin joined Cygnet in 1954 at the tender age of 17 having just come to London to take up employment as a civil servant with the Air Ministry. On his application form, which we still have, in answer to the question ‘Previous Rowing Club’ he proudly wrote NONE. Yet he took to the Thames like a fish to water and would become one of the most experienced and sought after coxswains on the Tideway.
Colin counted the likes of Mike Arnold-Gillat, Barney Frith, Derek Bush, John Ellis, Len Hoskins, Len Huggett and Peter Roche among his contemporaries. They were the club stalwarts of their day who would pass the Cygnet ethos on to new members. One way or another, they would all leave their mark on the club and Colin was no exception. Indeed, flicking through the index of C H Genever Watling’s write up of the club history from 1950-76, no member receives more mentions than Colin Dominy.
Two members – Norman Cowling and Lawrence McVeigh – were kind enough to share their extensive memories of Colin with me. Both recall an individual who may have been short of stature but was utterly dedicated in everything he did whether it be coxing, rowing or cross-country running. Norman opined that he was literally a light weight, but in every other way a heavy weight with a determination to win. Lawrence concurred: he was an excellent cox and could be fairly aggressive in a race, particularly if he felt he could get one over on an opposing crew.
Colin first rose to prominence in the second half of the 1950s when Cygnet was enjoying something of a resurgence following a lean patch during the early post war years. Thus, in 1956, a ‘junior’/’junior-senior’ Vlll won a string of victories with Colin at the helm. Further victories would follow, many captured in the club’s photo archives with Colin invariably sat centre stage. By the end of the fifties, Cygnet could look back on its most successful period since the thirties: the club had undoubtedly won more events in the junior and junior senior Vllls class than ever before and Colin had had a hand in most of them, variously coxing and coaching.
The 1960s were nowhere near as successful as the previous decade. With competitive Cygnet crews few and far between, in 1965 Colin accepted an invitation to cox Nautilus, the forerunner of the National Squad, coached by George Plumtree, rowing out of Twickenham RC. Lawrence recollects: Colin’s first contribution was coxing a brand-new Stampfli lV+ doing a piece in the cut inside Eel Pie Island when a boat appeared unexpectedly and took the bows off completely. He was embarrassed but they didn’t throw him out. Nautilus had its moments, winning The Golden Oar in Antwerp among other international events, but it never fully lived up to expectations and by the late 1960s Colin was back in the Cygnet fold, becoming club captain in 1968-69.
Rowing was never the be-all and end-all for Colin; he was also a very fast runner. In an era when running was a central feature of winter training, he regularly led the pack on Tuesday and Thursday evening laps round the bridges or through Richmond Park. An indispensable team participant in the Oarsmen’s Cross Country organized by Black Heath Harriers, he usually led the Cygnet contingent home, not least in 1969 when Cygnet won the event outright.
No obituary of Colin would be complete without mention of his wife Isobel pictured here at a Cygnet dinner dance in the 1960s. Lawrence claims a small part in this union: I invited Isobel and some other young women I knew through work down to a Cygnet party and the Civil Service Boathouse worked its usual magic. ‘Issy’ took up rowing at St George’s, who also rowed out of the CSBH at this time, and they were married in 1967. As Norman notes, together they were a formidable rowing couple in the boathouse.
By the time I joined Cygnet in the early 1970s, being piloted by Colin was a rite of passage for any self-respecting crew and they all trusted him implicitly. Yet, like every cox, Colin yearned to row. And so it was, in 1974-75, that Colin joined myself, my brother Andy and Steve Reeves in a novice lV that would win the non-status John Cork Cup before securing the ‘real thing’ at Barnes & Mortlake regatta. Norman recalls: I remember the pleasure everyone took when he won novice fours. The trophy was huge and we refilled it many times.
Being a lightweight could have its drawbacks. Thus, on one occasion, while rowing bow in an Vlll he caught a humongous crab which lifted him out of his seat and catapulted him the length of the Vlll. As he sailed over our heads, the rest of us reflected that there must be easier ways to conduct seat trials. Yet, true to form, Colin took it all in his stride and simply added the episode to his rich tapestry of a life afloat.
Colin would remain in evidence at Cygnet until the 1980s when the Civil Service Boathouse Executive asked St George’s to look for new premises. They settled on Twickenham RC and Colin and ‘Issy’ duly relocated with them before upping sticks again to Caversham where he joined Reading RC for a time. In later years, he took up golf, playing regularly with local friends.
Colin and ‘Issy’ were both early supporters of Henley Women’s Regatta and contributed financially to its success. He also attended the Cygnet Veteran’s Lunch at Leander, happily conversing with ‘old hands’ over a beer or two, but never staying to dine. After ‘Issy’ died he moved into sheltered accommodation in Reading for a time, while continuing to play golf. His twilight years were spent in Tisbury in Wiltshire, his birthplace, where he moved to be nearer to his family.
Coxswains come and go, but few display the longevity, commitment and sheer skill that Colin Dominy did. He was one of a kind and Cygnet was lucky to have him. His funeral will be held on Thursday 29th January at 2pm at Salisbury Crematorium, Barrington Road, Salisbury SP1 3JB.
Paul Rawkins, 23rd January 2026 (with thanks to Lawrence McVeigh and Norman Cowling)
Captain's update – November 2025
22nd November 2025
Just a small update and key points from the captaincy:
Fours Head weekend
Well done to those who raced, it was tricky conditions at times so a very solid effort for everyone involved. This forms a very solid base to shift our focus to Head of the River in March. I’m excited and cautiously optimistic we may be able to get two 8s into it – selection will be based off training, scores achieved and technical progress over the next few months.5k Test
Monday 8th December evening – we'll use this as a base and then go again in February (date tbc) to assess progress over winter, and inform our crew selections for HORR.Help with LTR Grads
Huge thanks to everyone who has helped so far, but for the upcoming sessions please can everyone help with signing up to support in the boat or in the shed. This is especially the case for recent LTR grads themselves. Our aim for our new cohort will be to race in Plum Puddings in late December, so they need all the support we can provide, see link emailed by the captain.Breakfast club
Friday morning ergs – 7am start. Noticed we are lacking fitness and an extra session on the erg, before work each week will really help with this. Someone will provide some sort of breakfast after for those who want it, on a rota basis. Please sign up on FitClub.BBL/Cygnet Xmas Party
As per Charles’ email, it is a very fun night which BBL kindly organise. The more Cygnets there the better! Please see the (emailed) link to sign up and pay.As always please reach out on any thoughts/feelings.
Thanks all,
JordanJohn Ellis
26th September 2025
John Ellis, 1933 – 2025
Not everybody craves the limelight; some like John Ellis, who died on the evening of 8th September aged 92, are destined to play a support role, and so it was that John often appeared alongside his wife Dame Diana Ellis, chair of British Rowing, at countless official events throughout her long term of office.
Although Cygnet was the main civil service rowing club post war, there were others, among them Crescent, another post office club based on the River Lee. Throughout the 1950s and 60s Crescent would often field crews for the annual civil service regatta, frequently walking away with the silver. For some Crescent members like John Ellis and Len Huggett, the draw of the Tideway was hard to resist and both would defect to Cygnet in the late 1950s.
John may not have been a noisy individual but, as Lawrence McVeigh remembers, he was a successful Cygnet stroke, noted for his long, graceful smooth technique. Thus, the early 1960s found John rowing in several club eights at a host of Tideway regattas and the Serpentine. In due course, John met Di, a fellow stroke, rowing for St George’s, who also boated from the civil service boathouse (and stroked the GB Women’s Vlll at the European Championships in 1966) and another successful matrimonial union was struck.
John, probably wisely, never quite succumbed to the Last of the Summer Wine set, which met at the boathouse on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, John and Len Huggett remained lifelong pals, often meeting up during retirement, Len ever full of bonhomie and John always on hand to see him safely home. It was a tried and tested combination. On those rare occasions when John put his head above the parapet, so to speak, it was usually at the annual president’s lunch at Henley or the veterans lunch at Leander, both of which provided the few picture opportunities that we have of John.
Di passed away in 2017 and John spent his last few years in a care home in Sussex. He is survived by a daughter, Claire and grandchildren Dan & Joe. The funeral will be held at 12.00 on 10th October at Wealden Crematorium, Horam Road, Horam, East Sussex TN21 0FX.
Paul Rawkins, 25th September 2025
Richard du Parcq
4th September 2025
Dr Richard du Parcq, 1943–2025
George Bernard Shaw memorably wrote I’m sorry this letter is so long. I didn’t have time to write a short one. Richard du Parcq, du P to his friends, who died on 25 August at the age of 82, took this famous utterance to new heights or perhaps lengths. He was completely incapable of writing a short email, still less mastering an answerphone. Zoom presented a whole new set of challenges, while firewalls, malware and the like simply defied comprehension.
Richard first encountered email in 1994; thousands of electronic missives would follow, each imprinted with his own unique turn of phrase, always running to many paragraphs, often tangential to the topic in hand. Thankfully, I rarely deleted them; they form a rich tapestry of his life, not to mention an invaluable aide memoire to writing this obituary.
About a month before he died, Richard wrote to the secretary at Cygnet informing him that he would be unable to attend the forthcoming ordinary general meeting. Typically, he went into further detail, describing himself as a well-disposed old fart, living just across the river, active 1968-1990s, who now has a mystery set of medical symptoms which has been puzzling Kingston Hospital once or twice a week in recent months. His symptoms would defy diagnosis until very late in the day, yet he had nothing but praise for the fifty-something professionals from every corner of the globe who had ministered to him, reflecting that just now, I find it hard to argue against immigration.
As it happened, the date of the OGM – 23 July – was a poignant one, coming just a week after Richard’s 56th anniversary as a member of Cygnet. His application form, dated 16 July 1969, informed the membership secretary that his full name was Richard Poole du Parcq, living in a basement on Kennington Road SE11, while gainfully employed in the Management Services Department of the Metropolitan Police, where he would remain for the whole of his working life. He listed his previous rowing club as Exeter College, Oxford.
Richard was born in 1943 in Godalming, Surrey, the eldest child of John and Ann du Parcq. Growing up in an academic household, he seems to have been a studious child who steered well clear of most sport, especially rugby while at Cheltenham College. In 1961, he went up to Oxford, where he would spend the next seven years studying his mother’s subject (chemistry) at his father’s college (Exeter), emerging with a PhD in 1968. Yet his formidable intellect betrayed an enduring love for English and History.
Life at Oxford had many compensations. It was here that he developed his passion for rowing, while making lifelong friends of Phil Beckett and Neil Jackson (also Cygnet members), among others, as well as starring in a notorious episode of University Challenge with Stanley Johnson, inviting a strong rebuke from quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne for unscholarly behaviour towards the opposing team.
Richard was never under any illusion that he would make the blue boat. In his own words: my rowing owed more to enthusiasm, and great love of the sport, than to physique or any innate ability. Nevertheless, 1962 found him rowing in the college’s second VIII; by 1963 he had graduated to the first VIII, stroked by Phil Beckett, rowing in open competition at Reading and Marlow. Longer acts of endurance followed in the Boston Marathon in 1964 and ’66. In those days, it was customary to preseason at Leander, where he recalled sharing a shower with Jack Beresford of 1936 Olympic gold medal fame. Their paths would cross again in the Tommy Steele movie ‘Half a Sixpence’, when Richard played a bankside extra at Henley and Beresford an umpire.
Richard joined Cygnet – the best rowing club in the world – a time when it was starting to draw away from its post office roots, attracting a new wave of graduates. Among them was Normal Cowling who recalled: he (Richard) was the spare man for the 1972 Thames Cup VIII, a difficult role that he carried out with good grace and humour. After Henley he came back into the eight and was a key man in picking up some consolation pots (to add to his coveted novice IVs win at Worcester earlier in the year). Further consolation followed with a star appearance in an advertising feature afloat for Double Diamond; said to work wonders, it was no match for Richard’s lethal homemade wines.
Older hands at Cygnet are fond of quipping that Cygnet is a marriage bureau masquerading as a rowing club. Richard rarely let his work interfere with life outside the office and he was unaware of a colleague, Diane Clark, who worked at Scotland Yard concurrently. Yet fate was already on the case: Diane rowed at Chiswick for the Civil Service Ladies Rowing Club and their paths would duly cross in the bar après rowing. They married in 1973 after a stag night that appeared to go on for days (when it was not fashionable), setting up home in Barnes and begetting five children (and six grandchildren) during 52 years of marriage.
None of the children shared their parents’ love of rowing, but they all have fond memories of terrorising the club on a Sunday morning while awaiting their parents’ return from their respective outings. Yet all appreciate the overarching role rowing played in their father’s life. Phoebe du Parcq opines: The rowing club encapsulated so much of what was important to dad – a community that welcomed everyone and built on a shared set of values.
What Richard may have lacked in physical attributes on the water, he more than made up for on land, serving as captain twice (1979, 1989–90), along with long stints as secretary, treasurer and committee member, interspersed with coaching, coxing and even gym instruction. His enduring legacy will be the Ten-Year Boat Buying Programme which he devised in 1979. This would transform the club’s fleet from what we jokingly used to refer to as firewood into one of the best stocked boat clubs on the Tideway, one of which was named after him. A Civil Service Merit Award would follow in the 2000s for long service to sport and recreation in the public sector.
He will be remembered, too, for his high-brow coxing commands such as four, I fear you are the architect of your own misfortunes, which often drew a blank from the hapless recipient, but a wry smile from the rest of the crew. A Tideway Scullers veteran VIII who he coxed a few times, regarded him as the most entertaining coxswain on the Tideway and he was much in demand for the annual Speaker’s Summer Regatta between Lambeth and Westminster Bridges. Wistfully recollecting the 1986 event, he noted: The racing was rubbish, but I did see ex-prime minister James Callaghan falling in and there was plenty of freebie drinking afterwards on parliament’s terrace.
Richard’s talents were not confined to Cygnet. He also spent 35 years ‘before the flag’ as a licensed umpire before I lost my rag with the National Competition Committee. In one sense, the role of umpire suited him perfectly – he knew the rule book inside out; however, the practical side sometimes proved more of a challenge – he once started an VIIIs race that overtook the previous race causing some consternation at the finish. Still, such occurrences were mere hiccups along the way and in 2022 British Rowing presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution to the sport. Receiving it, Richard mused this may represent respectability ... something I haven’t always craved.
Be that as it may, the award also recognised the 18 years (2005-22) he had devoted as Entries Secretary of the Fours Head. Entries for this event always far exceed the number of spaces available resulting in endless instances of ‘special pleading’ night and day as the closing date approaches. The du Parcq household fielded these resolutely, knowing that such pleas were futile. As fellow Fours Head committee member Helen Smalman-Smith remembers, Richard was always firm and never unfair, showing inexhaustible patience in gently enlightening the confused. Entries-related correspondence has been much duller since he retired and certainly includes less Latin.
Richard’s life was not defined solely by rowing. Family life absorbed much of his time, and he would often regale us with their antics. Phoebe recalls that driving holidays and camping were the mainstay of du Parcq summers, but because of his pathological fear of motorways they always went the scenic route. Yet Richard was game for most things: Phil Beckett related how he ran 24 road marathons, including one in New York and another where he visited every public lavatory in south London due to an untimely upset stomach. In 2013 he joined others in a valiant attempt to scale Kilimanjaro for charity. At a more mundane level, he was always on hand for club bungalow working parties: he may have displayed no obvious DIY skills, but his stream of anecdotes was priceless.
Richard never missed a funeral if he could help it, travelling the length and breadth of the country in his stripy club blazer to bid a last farewell to the great and good of Cygnet and BBLRC. At Ann Southey’s funeral last year, he set a new trend appearing in his carpet slippers, which had escaped Di’s attention before they set off. His own funeral promises to be a tightly choereographed affair, right down to the last hymn. It will take place at St Mary’s, Barnes, a church Richard regularly attended – unless the hymns weren’t up to scratch – and one where he fulfilled the role of treasurer on the Parochial Church Council for some years.
Finally, as club historian I have written countless obituaries over the last decade. Each and every one of those benefitted from Richard’s meticulous proof reading and pearls of wisdom. It is doubtful whether this one would pass muster; hopefully, readers will excuse stray Oxford commas here and there.
Paul Rawkins, 2 September 2025
You are warmly invited to join us in remembering and celebrating the life of Richard du Parcq on Friday 19th September 2025 at 3:00 PM at St Mary’s Church, Barnes. Following the service, a private committal will take place at the crematorium for family and close friends. All are welcome to gather for refreshments and remembrance from 4:00 PM at The Coach and Horses on Barnes High Street.
Please feel free to wear something that reflects your relationship with Richard, for example club blazer or college tie. No flowers, please. Donations, if desired, may be made to The Amyloidosis Research Fund at The Royal Free Charity in memory of Richard du Parcq. Your presence and support are greatly appreciated.
Captaincy update – August 2025 (from your new captain)
27th August 2025
Hello All,
I hope we are all enjoying an extremely well-earned rest!
As my first email to the wider group, I just wanted to share some initial thoughts and plans for the upcoming months. First of all I would like to thank Dom and the outgoing captaincy for all of the hard work they have put in over the last year, and time spent helping me in the last few weeks – it's been thoroughly appreciated. We are certainly in a great place as a club and I really hope we can build on this and achieve even more success this upcoming year.
On this topic, I would like to congratulate all of the squad that raced at Henley T&V regatta, where there was some very competitive across the board. A particular congratulation to Tom and Dom in the 2- who beat the RAF, and won their category.
Looking forward to the upcoming months, we please look at the following key dates for your diary and sign up on fitclub accordingly. Note, the sooner you're able to sign up we will be able to set up some crews - and as shown across the summer, apparently training together makes you go faster!
- Scullers Head 28th September
- Pairs Head 4th October
- Upper Thames Head 26th October
- Fours Head 15th November
- Vets Fours Head 16th November
- Walton Small Boats Head 6th December
- Plum Puddings 13th December
- Quintin Head 25th January
- Head of the Nene 7th February
- Henley Fours and Eights Head 14th February
- Hammersmith Head 28th February
- Head of the River 28th March
These are head races that we have identified as possible targets to make the Head racing season slightly more exciting, and less "Shed based" - and as some are off Tideway we will have to plan accordingly. Please sign up on FitClub, and we can get planning.On the topic of the shed, training will return a proper from the first week of September. We will move our midweek sessions back into the shed - with weights on Mondays and an "exciting" erg on Wednesday. As long as the weather complies, we will keep our weekend sessions on the water where possible. Its worth mentioning, a key reason why there was success at Cygnet during the regatta season, and one of our best HORR results for years, was due to the hard work put in in the Shed, so i encourage everyone to build on this platform and put in the effort this Autumn and Winter.
Other dates for the diary
- End of season dinner
You should have already signed up for this, where on Fri 29th August will be our end of season dinner to come together as a club and celebrate our success this year. - Scamp 5th - 7th September
Its looking likely, due to sign ups, that we wont go to the Bungalow but instead go for a long row to Richmond and back, please look out for further comms on this. - Learn to Row
LTR is back for 6 weeks, from the 8th of September, where we will need volunteers to help support our new intake of LTR participants - please look out for further comms on this. - Team Ordinary Session
A crew of civil servants rowing the Atlantic, are coming down to our boat house so we can help them with rowing technique/take them for an outing. Please sign up on fitclub to help out. Date: Wednesday 10th September, AM. Please see the link to their website - The Oardinary Crew - Sun 14th September - Cygnet and BBL joint club day
This will involve some mixed races and a BBQ. Further details to follow.
Thank you to anyone who has got this far down the email - I will endeavur to be more succinct going forward.
I hope these restful few weeks has made everyone as excited about the year ahead as I am.
Thanks
JordanCaptain's update, 13th July
15th July 2025
Mea culpa, I haven't done a squad update in a while but as the below shows, it has been a busy summer! 3 months of intensive regatta racing, brilliant training, and the odd social beer(s) means that time has flown.
Regatta summary
I won't go through every regatta in detail, but a big shout-out to everyone who has committed to the squad during the summer season. We have progressed leaps and bounds, building on the engines we built during the winter in the gym to excellent improvement on the water in the summer.
The regatta season started with Hammersmith in late April, where we had a 4+ and a 4x- race very competitively, but ultimately both lost to the eventual winners. It was the first regatta for many, and good dusting off the cobwebs for everyone else. We then had a few race at Chiswick in early May, before a great day's racing at Peterborough later in the month - with the Tom/Dom pair reaching the final in a competitive pairs field, ultimately just being outdone at the last hurdle.June saw us compete at Walton & Weybridge in a 4x-, before a bumper entry at Barnes and Mortlake where again we were within just feet of winning both the 4+ and the 4x-. Annoying but it showed the progress we had made over the summer. A quick lessons-learnt and on we marched to Kingston....
And Kingston saw us get our first win of the season, in a high-calibre coxless four category - with wins against Maidenhead and UCL/Bentham in the final. A particular well done to Benjy, Jordan and Tom for their first win in Cygent lycra!We have one regatta left, Henley Town and Visitors on 2 August. We have a bumper entry across pairs, fours and an eight, and so it represents a great chance to go out with a bang!
S'camp
A key part of the squad's improvement has been a very successful "S'camp" weekend at the bungalow. Particular thanks to Tom and others who led on organising it - a massive success. I love the bungalow - a great chance to just row (oh, and drink the odd beer...) - but particularly this year where it was a lot of people's first time visiting. We are planning our next trip for early September so please do sign up on Fitclub so we can start organising accordingly!
Social
It has also been a great period for squad socials - none better than our weekend celebrating 60 years of the relationship with our German partner club, Benrath. The highlight was the Friday at Henley Royal Regatta - our annual social on steroids! Particular thanks to Neil and all others who organised the event - I think it is fair to say everyone enjoyed it!
OGM
Finally, there is the club OGM on Wednesday 23 July at 8pm after the squad training session. Please do come if you can - we will be taking a vote on buying a new boat (a coxed four) and also be voting in a new captaincy. It has been a pleasure being the Captain of Cygnet for the past 12 months - do let me know if you are interested and want to discuss it in more detail.
Onwards!
Regatta Crews
Hammersmith Regatta
4+ Clara, Jim A, Tom C, Dom M, Jordan H
4x- Benjy H, Theo T, Ollie R, Mustafa OChiswick
2x-: Ollie R, Mustafa OPeterborough
2- Dom M, Tom CWalton and Weybridge
4x- Charles J, Peter R, Jordan H, Benjy HBarnes and Mortlake
4+ Clara, Dom M, Tom C, Mickey W, Jordan H
4x- Charles J, Ollie R, Peter R, Will P
4x- Mustafa O, Octavian P, Alex H, Martin DKingston
4x- Charles J, Ollie R, Peter R, Will P
4- Dom M, Tom C, Benjy H, Jordan H (Win)
Rowing and Racing Calendar
