The Wingfields Dinner

The 2010 Wingfield Sculls Dinner menu.

HTBS’s Tim Koch reports from London: What is the collective noun for scullers? Whatever it is, my report on the 2010 Wingfield Sculls showed archive pictures of groups of Wingfields winners at their 1959, 1980, and 2000 celebration dinners.

They were inspired by the famous 1930 Centenary Dinner picture showing the greats of Victorian, Edwardian and inter-War sculling.


Following the dinner of 2000 it was decided that these gatherings of sculling’s finest should be held every ten years. Thus in 2010 seventeen past winners (‘Champions’ in Wingfields speak) met at London Rowing Club for their decennial celebration.

Seated, left to right: Alan Campbell (Winner 2006, 09, 10), Doug Melvin (1955, 58), Anna Watkins (2010, [11]). Standing, left to right: Mahé Drysdale (2007, 08), Rory Henderson (1990), Guy Pooley ((1991, 92), Greg Searle (1998, 99, 2000), Matt Wells (2004, 05), Elise Laverick (2007), Sophie Hosking (2008, 09), John Russell (1959), Bill Barry (1963, 64, 65, 66), Nick Cooper (1967), Tim Crooks (1977, 78), Malcolm Carmichael (1979), Chris Baillieu (1981, 82, 83, 84), and Wade Hall-Craggs (1993). - (Click on the photograph to enlarge it.)

Only seven of the twenty four living Wingfields Champions could not attend. The next dinner will be in 2020 and ‘Hear The Boat Sing’ will (probably) be there to report on it.