“Lady Margaret Boat Club’s 200-year legacy is a story of exceptional achievement, not just at St John’s, but in the world of rowing”

For 200 years Lady Margaret Boat Club has been a powerhouse in rowing, shaping the sport nationally and globally.  

Begun in 1825 by 12 members of St John’s, the club is named after Lady Margaret Beaufort, grandmother of Henry VIII, matriarch of the Tudor dynasty, and founder of the College. Lady Margaret Boat Club (LMBC) was the first boat club in Cambridge and remains one of the most successful – it has produced a series of world-class athletes from legendary Cambridge rower JHD Goldie to Olympians Guy Pooley and Annamarie Phelps.  

‘Maggie’ rowers, as they are familiarly known, are not only champions on the water; they excel in the exam hall too, balancing the rigours of elite rowing with the academic excellence that defines Cambridge and St John’s. Recent alumni have gone on to impressive careers worldwide, as entrepreneurs, doctors, and lawyers, with one rower securing a job as a Formula 1 engineer after she graduated last year. 

Recognisable by their striking red blazers, St John’s rowers created the iconic Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race in 1829 – a rivalry that sparked the longest-running annual sporting events in the world – and the clash continues to be watched by millions of people every year.  

Now, St John’s is embarking on a series of bicentenary celebrations as LMBC turns 200 years old and the College aims to raise £750,000 to renovate the boat house. The fundraising comes as LMBC's M1 retains Headship in the Lent Bumps for the sixth year in a row, and W1 have just bumped up to second place in division one – the highest place the women have been on the river for more than 30 years.

Heather Hancock, Master of St John’s, said: “Lady Margaret Boat Club’s 200-year legacy is a story of exceptional achievement, not just at St John’s, but in the world of rowing.  

“From its pioneering role in the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race to its dominance on the River Cam, LMBC has set a standard of excellence that continues to inspire. As we celebrate this significant milestone, we honour the dedication, passion, and talent of generations of rowers who have built and carried this legacy forward. The club’s influence on rowing will remain a cornerstone of Cambridge’s sporting history for many years to come, and always inseparable from life at John’s.” 

From triumphs at the Henley Royal Regatta to GB Rowing, LMBC has maintained its status as a training ground for remarkable talent with around 70 freshers trying the sport for the first time every year when they join St John’s. The club can claim many firsts on the Cambridge rowing scene. For one, the origin of the word ‘blazer’ comes from the bright red cloth of the club’s scarlet jacket. The first recording of the word’s use is found in the London Daily News on 22 August 1889. 

LMBC was also the first to bring an ‘eight-oared’ boat to the Cam. Fours had been introduced by Trinity College several years earlier, but eights had yet to grace the waters of the Cam.  

In volume one of The History of Lady Margaret Boat Club, light is shed on the early days of the club in an extract of a letter from Archdeacon Cust (formerly Peacock, 1822) to Mr FD Johnson. It reads: “I also well remember meeting that boat coming up below Ditton, as we went down for the first time in the old Lady Margaret, which had only arrived a day or two before. The Trinity crew looked at us with astonishment. An eight-oar on the Cam! Unheard of prodigy!” 

Many well-known names have been members of the boat club – including Samuel Butler (1854), author of Erewhon, who coxed the Head of the River May Boat in 1857. 

“Almost everything I do is on the basis of the really positive experience I had when I went down to the river and joined the boat club” 

Meanwhile, former LMBC member Annamarie Phelps (née Stapleton, 1984) won a Gold Medal in the 1993 World Championships as a member of the Great Britain Lightweight IV, and she represented Great Britain in the women’s coxed eight at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games.  

Annamarie, who is now President of European Rowing and Vice Chair of the British Olympic Association, said: “I arrived at St John’s not having done very much sport. I went to a girls’ Catholic school, a state-funded comprehensive run by nuns, and sport just wasn’t a thing. So, when I arrived at John’s, which was a College that really valued sporting experiences and those communities, I wanted to try everything. 

“My first professional career was in the art world, but I am focused on sport, and I wouldn’t have done any of it if I hadn’t started rowing. And I wouldn’t have started rowing if I hadn’t been at John’s and if Lady Margaret Boat Club hadn’t been there. So almost everything I do every day is on the basis of the really positive experience I had during those first few weeks of my second year when I went down to the river and joined the boat club.” 

She added that a special aspect of rowing at LMBC is that there is a place for everyone, no matter their ability. “I wasn’t particularly good when I started at rowing, but, I never felt that there wasn’t a place for me. And rowing is still the same, especially for women, it’s a sport that you can take up later in life. You can do it at any level, recreationally or competitively. It’s one of those sports that’s actually very beautiful when it goes right, and of course when you’ re winning it tends to feel amazing. You feel like you’re flying, literally, the boat feels like it’s lifting off the water and it’s very special.” 

Annamarie is involved with the organisation of a row-past by former and current LMBC members at Henley Royal Regatta, to mark the 200th anniversary. Other celebrations planned for this year include alumni crews participating in Head of the Cam, followed by a birthday party at the boathouse, and a reunion dinner in College.  

“Through rowing, I’ve found not just physical and mental resilience but also a sense of belonging in a team that feels like family” 

One event that has already taken place is an ergathon organised by the club as part of the College’s Giving Day. Rowers completed 438.918km over the course of 18 hours, 25 minutes, with 54 people taking part, both students and staff. The College is aiming to raise £750,000 to renovate the boathouse, of which £400,000 has been raised so far.  

Philosophy undergraduate Theo Langslow (2021), communications officer for LMBC, was one of the organisers and livestreamed the event on YouTube. He said: “I was there the whole day from about 4am to 12.30am. I also did an intensive scheme where every time someone donated I would do a 30-second burst on the erg, which I think got us a few more donations.  

“The club has been a huge part of my time at St John’s. I wasn’t really sporty before university, and so rowing introduced me to a sport I could be good at, even though I started quite late in life. I’ve become part of a huge community, as well. I think Lady Margaret is one of the nicest boat clubs, in terms of the culture, on the river. I’ve made loads of lifelong friends through it. It’s an honour to be part of such an old institution and such a successful one.” 

Theo has taken part in one of the club’s famous traditions, which is a boat burning that takes place when the club gains or keeps a May Headship. He is quick to explain that no serviceable boats are ever burned.  

“We burn an old, decommissioned wooden boat that no one’s using anymore – last time it wasn’t even a Lady Margaret boat. We have a Boat Club Dinner beforehand with all the speeches. And then we go onto the Backs and the boat goes up in flames. The tradition is that the crews jump over the boat while it’s burning. That was one of the best nights of my life,” he said. 

Another well-known tradition is the stomp, which is part of a rivalry with Trinity College that happens every day of the Lent and May Bumps. Crews gather on the College Backs every morning before the races, stop at a tree stump, thump it three times and shout out the name of the crew starting in front of them that day to be bumped. 

A notable influence on the club through the 1860s and 1870s was JHD Goldie (1868) after whom the Goldie Boathouse and the University second VIII, the Goldie Crew, were named. He raised LMBC to the Headship of the River. He also won the Colquhoun Sculls and stroked Cambridge four times. 

The club has been through many ups and downs, with one glorious period acknowledged as the 1950s and 1960s. LMBC won the ‘Ladies Plate’ in 1949 with a new course record. In 1950, it went ‘Head of the Mays’ and retained headship for five years. In 1951, Lady Margaret won ‘The Grand’ at Henley Royal Regatta and had five members in the successful Cambridge crew, which also defeated Harvard and Yale in the United States. 

Between 1975 and 1981, Lady Margaret held on to headship at Lent Bumps for 26 consecutive days, the longest continuous defence of the Lent Headship in history. 

Lady Margaret’s 1st Women’s VIII reached third position in the Mays in 2023 for the first time since 1998, and then bumped to the same position in the Lents in 2024 for the first time since 2002. The 1st Men’s VIII returned to its positions as Head of the River for the Lents in 2020 and the Mays in 2024. 

“Being a member of LMBC has defined my time at Cambridge, giving each term a sense of structure and purpose” 

Current men’s co-captain, Engineering undergraduate Ben Fenocchi (2022), said: “Rowing for LMBC has been undoubtedly one of the most rewarding parts of my time at St John’s. When I arrived at Cambridge in 2022, I had never rowed before, but thanks to the generosity of fellow Maggie rowers who volunteered their time to teach me, I quickly found myself immersed in a sport I now love.  

“Since then, LMBC has given me priceless memories – training camps, Boat Club Dinners, and the incredible experience of racing alongside teammates who have become lifelong friends. The pursuit of headship has driven me to push my limits, and through rowing, I’ve found not just physical and mental resilience but also a sense of belonging in a team that feels like family.” 

Tatiana Martin (2021), the current women’s captain, who is studying Modern and Medieval Languages, said: “Being a member of LMBC has defined my time at Cambridge, giving each term a sense of structure and purpose. I feel immensely privileged to be a part of this centuries-old community, and I will be celebrating the bicentenary with the friends I have made through the club.” 

Published 21/03/2025

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