GB v France Match

The London Regatta Centre at the Royal Docks welcomed J16 crews from France and the UK on Sunday 10th July, when it hosted the GB v France Match for the first time since the course was extended.  Congratulations to the GB juniors who were the overall winners this year, details of the individual races below.

Results of the GB France Match 2011.

The timetable of racing is available to download (pdf)

The team lists are posted on GB Rowing’s Meet the Teams section

Directions for the Royal Albert Dock Regatta Centre

Following the racing on Sunday all the rowers will be invited to take part in a series of Dragon Boat races organised by the Thames Dragons.

A brief history of the Match with thanks to Pam Davies;

An Anglo-French match for junior rowers was the inspiration of Jacques Bloch, who presided over every match from its inception in 1980, up to and including 1996 when he was already 86 years old.  His singular work in initiating it and fostering its growth will never be forgotten as long as young rowers of Great Britain and France gather in friendly competition each year.  The Amateur Rowing Association was proud to commemorate his work by presenting in 1997 a new trophy for the overall match, ‘The Jacques Bloch Cup’. 

After 1990 the match was held in Henley-on-Thames and Boulogne-sur-Mer in alternate years.  Now, it is held in different locations around both countries, and this year is being hosted by the London Regatta Centre at the Royal Albert Docks in London.

Originally the event offered competition to J16 and J18 rowers.   However, when the Coupe de la Jeunesse was introduced in addition to the World Junior Championships, it was decided to limit the match to the J16 age-group only.  In 1996 the nature of the match as essentially a competition between the clubs of the two nations was re-established and was opened up to the youth of Scotland and Wales.  The ‘Anglo-French Match’ became a fixture between the two full federations, and is now known as the Great Britain v France Match.

The organisers hope that the youth of our two nations will enjoy for all time the happy rivalry that Jacques Bloch worked so long and hard to promote.