Churchill College Boat Club is delighted to announce that a new men’s VIII, to be named ‘River Lady’, has been generously funded by alumnus and former member of the club, Brian Harris (U80). This will be the new first men’s boat.
Brian Harris matriculated in Natural Sciences in 1980. He only began rowing in his second year, but having caught the bug, moved across to Chemical Engineering to get an extra year of rowing (and hockey) in and so was at Churchill from 1980–84.
Together with his Chem Eng and rowing contemporaries Andy Duff and Martin Rice he very much enjoyed rowing at the last alumni event, after their year’s reunion (for 1979–84 matriculants).
His rowing highlights were stroking the 2nd boat in the Mays 84, and stroking the winning Cambridge invitation graduate boat (vs Oxford) at Henley in 1984.
After leaving Churchill, Brian qualified as a chartered accountant before specialising as an in-house tax professional, ultimately working as Head of Tax for various groups in the UK utilities sector, before retiring in 2016.
With no rowing club in close proximity to his home in the Cotswolds, he is now an enthusiastic road runner, representing the England Masters team in 2022 over the marathon.
Brian wanted to help the Club financially for some time as he looks back very fondly on his time rowing at Churchill. He says:
…‘the recent need for a new boat coincided with the death of my mother a few months ago, so I’m delighted to sponsor a new VIII in her memory. She was born in Dover, but for more than 40 years lived in the village of River, just outside, thus “River Lady”.’
Commenting on the new boat, the Overall Captain, Kieran Heal (U&G16, Physics) said: ‘this will let us keep the momentum the Men’s First Boat has from achieving Blades in last year’s May Bumps as they continue the hunt to return to the First Division. ‘
Ros Turner, the men’s captain (U23, History) said: ‘We’re so excited to have ‘River Lady’ joining our fleet. I’m so grateful for all the support we’re given as the boat club grows. We want to make rowing accessible to everyone who wants to give it a go, and another boat only increases our potential!
The College and Churchill College Boat Club are immensely grateful to Brian and his family for supporting the purchase of River Lady and wish her every success in this year’s Bumps and future rowing events in years to come. River Lady will be officially named, by Brian, at a ceremony hosted by the Master, Professor Sharon Peacock on 21 March 2025, at the Boathouse. The ceremony will begin at 11am, if you would like to attend please email [email protected].