Records of Poplar Regatta go back as far as 1857, when it was raced from Canary Wharf to Greenwich Pier, opposite the present Poplar Blackwall Boathouse. If only those old members could see how the Regatta has moved on.
In 1984, Poplar Regatta moved home to The London Regatta Centre, Multi Lane 2000m course and has achieved record entries every year since 2008. We are now attracting almost 400 crews with racing taking place every 6 minutes throughout the day. Our biggest entry this year came in the Men’s IM3 8+’s, where 18 crews battled it out for a place in the final. Fittingly, the last race of the day, promised to be a hard fought affair, which didn’t let us down. The victor’s were Shiplake Collage with Fitzwilliam Collage pushing them to the line, with less than a second separating the two crews.
It’s always a joy to see the host crews do well and Poplar’s IM1 4+ did us proud in winning by a substantial margin in their final over the Cantabridgian RC and Tyrian Club crews.
The Men’s IM1 8+’s turned into a straight final after a few crews withdrew. It finished with London RC and Eton Collage chasing Latimer Upper to the line. The result went to Latimer, who held onto a one second margin over London with Eton in 3rd place.
This year’s record entry was mainly due to large entries from many of the schools, colleges and clubs from the London and South East Region. It has taken Poplar Regatta many years to become a recognised regatta and as with all Regatta’s up and down the country, nothing would happen if it wasn’t for a large army of volunteers from the host club and families, for which every Regatta Chairman is truly thankful.
This year's regatta was one of the best and we aim to improve. Next year's date is Sunday 15th May 2011, see you there!
Report from John Roberts
Poplar Regatta Chairman
