After a week of unseasonably wet and windy weather, the sun shone brightly for the OP Boat Club Open Afternoon.  OPs, current parents and students met by the river for a few hours of fun on the water and catching up with friends.  The event started promptly at 2pm with a safety briefing from the Director of Rowing, Tom Wilkinson, and after a quick reminder of the do's and do not's on the river it was time to launch the boats.  With Noah Lowe, current Captain of Boats,  and Rob Hamilton and Garth McDonald (OPs), members of the 1963 Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup winning crew, not to mention Charlie Shilito and Reuben Reggiani,(OPs) members of the 2003 winning VIII, there where plenty of experienced rowers available to help the novices, some of whom had never rowed before.

While the rowers rediscovered the delights of a summers afternoon on the Thames, those who had chosen to remain on dry land occupied the deckchairs and soaked up the sun while reminising about their time at the college,  When the boats returned they were met by the smell of freshly cooked pizza, which together with a selection of drinks and cakes, helped to refuel tired bodies.

To round off the afternoon Tom Wilkinson and the Head, Thomas Garnier spoke about the achievements of the Boat Club and also about the exciting plans for the future of rowing at the College.  We hope everyone enjoyed a lovely, relaxed afternoon and our special thanks to Alex Garnier for her fantastic photographs which you can see in the gallery below.