Tim Koch On The 2012 ‘Coat and Badge’

Merlin Dwan - winner of the 2012 Doggett’s Coat and Badge Race.

HTBS’s Tim Koch writes about this year’s Doggett’s Coat and Badge Race:

The strangest events and customs are given credibility simply by the fact that they have gone on for a long time. While this is true all over the world, Britain seems to specialise in celebrating the archaic and the eccentric. Possibly because there has been two hundred and ninety eight Doggett’s Coat and Badge Races, today’s past winners, all unpretentious, solid working men descended from generations of unpretentious, solid working men, are very happy to be seen in public wearing a costume that was first out of date two hundred years ago. Even the fact that it is bright scarlet and carries a silver arm badge the size of a dinner plate does not deter them. However, there is more to wearing the Coat and Badge than custom. Doggett’s is a celebration of the heritage of Watermen and Lightermen and their families and the scarlet costume is a physical manifestation of this. Some may not care to articulate such sentiments but they would hold the race in high esteem even if it did not involve wearing 19th-century clothing. Doggett’s winners are not usually the sort of blokes who wear knee breeches and white stockings but, as many come from families that have made their living from the Thames for as long as they can remember, they do so with pride. To quote my report on the 2011 race, the Doggett’s gives

“… a small glimpse into the remnants of a world that was once commonplace but that today has almost vanished. This is a world where ordinary families lived, worked and played together for generations.”

As we will see, the result of the 2012 race added even more to this rich heritage. After a withdrawal there were five contestants.

1 Light Blue: Ben McCann
2 Red: Merlin Dwan
3 Green: Stuart Coleman
4 Yellow: Nathaniel Brice
5 Orange: Dan Alloway

Brice passes HMS Belfast and Tower of London going to the start.

All but Brice had raced previously. The conditions were as reasonable as they can be on that part of the river which rarely produces totally calm water. Dwan was the favourite to win and he led from the start where he went off strongly. Most got off well except McCann who got himself in a bad position on the north shore from the beginning and never recovered. The final finish order of Dwan first followed by Alloway, Brice, Coleman and McCann stayed pretty much in place throughout the race.


Soutwalk Bridge 400m from start, Alloway, Brice and Dwan.

At one stage Alloway left the others and went over to the south shore but he did not seem to suffer too much because of it. At Vauxhall, he and Brice were having a good race for second place but then the latter went wide and lost contact. Dwan seemed well prepared and drew on his experience of competing in the 2011 Doggets. He rowed in the Wyfolds for London Rowing Club in this year’s Henley and was clearly very fit. His father, John, himself a Doggett’s winner, said that he avoided coaching his son as he felt that this would have added to any stress that his boy was under.

Blackfriars Bridge 1,400m from the start, Brice, Coleman and Dwan.

In the final stages of the race, the umpire had overtaken all four of the other competitors and Dwan was under no pressure as he crossed the finish. With his victory there are now five living members of the Dwan family who have won Doggett’s. Kenny won in 1971 and his sons Nick and Robert won in 2002 and 2004 respectively. Kenny's brother, John, won in 1979 and his son, Merlin, won yesterday. John said that he hoped that there were more family winners ‘in the pipeline...’

A Royal wave for the umpire.

Doggett’s is always umpired by the Bargemaster of the Fishmongers’ Company who must be a previous winner. The 2012 race was umpired by Bobby Prentice who I have written about before. There is a wonderful story written by a local newspaper here which tells of his family’s long involvement with the river. It is just another one of the many, many reasons that the Thames is sometimes described as ‘liquid history’.

Passing Parliament 3,500m from the start, Coleman, Brice, Alloway and Dwan.

The launch from the Watermen’s Company follows the race. The man in blue coat and badge is the new Watermen’s Bargemaster, Scott Neicho. St Paul’s Cathedral in the background.

Approaching Vauxhall Bridge 5,200m from the start, Coleman, Alloway and Dwan.

Gary Enniss (winner 1982) watches Brice approaching the former Battersea Power Station approx. 6,500m into the race.

Dwan’s last few strokes.

For Dwan it’s over.

Four of the five members of the Dwan Family who have won Doggett’s. L. to R. Robert (2004), Merlin (2012), Nick (2002) and John (1979). Not present Kenny (1971).

Bobby Prentice (1973) Fishmongers’ Bargemaster and race umpire.

(Text & Photographs copyright: Tim Koch)

The 2012 Doggett’s Wager

Nick Dwan (2002), Terry Enver (2008) and Robert Dwan (2004)

HTBS's Tim Koch reports from London:

The 298th Doggett’s Coat and Badge Wager will take place on Friday 20 July. HTBS has previously reported on the 2010 and the 2011 races and has explained the origins of this strangely titled contest.

For those who have not heard of it, ‘Doggett’s’ is a sculling race of 4.6 miles / 7400 metres on the River Thames, only open to those who have finished their apprenticeship to become Watermen in the preceding three years. Historically, these ‘Freemen’ are the only people allowed to carry goods and passengers on the river. Although there was much gambling on the outcome in the past, the word ‘wager’ is used in the historical sense, that of ‘an ancient form of trial by personal combat between the parties or their champions’ (Oxford English Dictionary).

 2011 Doggett’s: Dan Alloway by HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge

In the league of continuously held sports events, Doggett’s is the world’s oldest rowing contest (first held in 1715) and the second oldest British sporting competition (the oldest is an archery competition, the ‘Antient Silver Arrow’, held every year since 1673 in Scorton, North Yorkshire).

The draw for the 2012 race, the colours and the stations are as follows:
1 Royal Blue: L. Hart
2 Light Blue: B. McCann
3 Red: M. Dwan
4 Green: S. Coleman
5 Yellow: N. Brice
6 Orange: D. Alloway

Traditionally, only those in their first year of ‘freedom’ from their apprenticeship could race but, since 1988, in an effort to keep the standard of the event up, unsuccessful competitors have been allowed to compete again in their second or third years of freedom, subject to a maximum age of 26 on the day of the race. Four of the competitors raced last year. Of these Merlin Dwan must be the favourite as, in the rough conditions of the 2011 race, he finished 7 seconds behind the winner, Chris Anness. Dan Alloway was 1 minute 52 seconds behind Anness, Stuart Coleman was 4 minutes behind and Ben McCann came in 4 minutes 50 seconds behind. I do not know the form of Hart and Brice, but I think the latter is a seasoned competitor. The rowing historian in me is supporting Dwan as he comes from the family with the most living Doggett’s winners. Ken Dwan won in 1971, John Dwan in 1979, Nick Dwan in 2002 and Robert Dwan in 2004.

 2011 Doggett’s: Ben McCann and Merlin Dwan

There is an exciting follow up to the Doggett’s this year. To celebrate The Queen’s 60 year reign, there will be a Diamond Jubilee Coat and Badge Wager on Tuesday, 4 September. The winner will receive a blue jubilee coat with a newly designed badge. Details have yet to be decided but there is a precedent from the year 2000. To mark the millennium a double sculls race was held for a freeman sculling with an apprentice. It was won by John Dwan and Mark Hunter. A picture of Hunter in his Millennium Coat and Badge and the interesting story of his career from apprentice waterman to captain of Leander is here.