Tradesmen's RC Goes For The Olympics

TRADESMEN ASK OLYMPIC TRIAL

(Click on the picture above to start the film.)

Of course, with the Olympic Games coming up in London next year, the media is reflecting on different aspects of the Games held there in 1948 (but not so much on the 1908 Games, also held in London). At the 1948 Olympic rowing in Henley, Great Britain was represented in the eights by Cambridge, who had won The Boat Race that year. The Cambridge crew took an Olympic silver medal.

Rarely, are sport historians interested in things that never happened, or, in the case of rowing historians, races that were never held. However, the HTBS readers might find the news reel above interesting as it shows an attempted by the Thames Tradesmen's Rowing Club to represent Britain in the eights at the Olympic rowing in 1948. Anyone interested in professional rowing, famous World Champion sculler, Bert Barry, who was their coach, appears in the film for a couple of seconds.