St Hilda's College Boat Club

St Hilda's has a proud history of rowing. In 1911, we became the first College to have an all-women eight, 'a hitherto unheard of thing for a women's college in Oxford … To do it we had to go down to the Isis at 8.30am, when there would be few, if any, to see us. We wore our every day clothing, blouses up to our necks & skirts to our ankles, but we did use garters instead of our usual corsets.' In 1969, St Hilda's led the way again, storming the male bastion of Oxford rowing to become the first women's crew to compete in Summer VIIIs against men's crews (a number of which they had to beat to qualify). Flash forward to today and both the women's and the men's 1st VIIIs won blades in the 2019 Torpids.  

Despite its successes, the Boat Club is in urgent need of funding. The equipment on which the teams rely is very worn, with one boat being recently declared unsafe to use. In order to continue the proud tradition of rowing at St Hilda's and to ensure that rowing remains accessible to students here, the Boat Club is seeking the support of alumnae and friends. Gifts to the Boat Club may be made here.