Kingston Grammar School Boat Club - Thames Ditton | UK Rowing Clubs | Row HQ

Kingston Grammar School Boat Club is the school's British Rowing-affiliated club, with boat code KGS. It rows on the River Thames from the R C Sherriff Boathouse in Aragon Avenue, Thames Ditton, beside the school's Ditton Field sports ground.

The club was founded in 1889 and held its first school regatta in 1892. It temporarily disappeared from school sport in 1918 but survived an uncertain period during the Second World War; the school's purchase of Ditton Field in 1965 then gave KGSBC its own Thames home.

R C Sherriff had bought land at the end of Aragon Avenue for a school boathouse in 1958, after supporting the club with boats. By 1957 the club had more than 70 members, its own uniform and an annual dinner, and had entered the Schools' Head of the River for the first time.

Rowing now starts in the Third Year, often with complete beginners. The school says pupils train on the Thames and at UK and overseas camps, supported by a dedicated boathouse, a broad fleet and a rowing department that in 2025 comprised seven staff including coaches and a boatman.

KGSBC has won national titles and Schools' Head events in boys' and girls' classes. Its National Schools' Regatta record includes the 2024 Royal Engineers' Cup and three girls' titles in 2025, while the schoolgirl eight won its Schools' Head category in 2025.

Olympic champions James Cracknell and Sophie Hosking are notable former KGS pupils. Cracknell learned to row at the R C Sherriff Boathouse, won junior world gold in 1990 and was appointed to return as Director of Rowing from September 2025; Hosking won Olympic lightweight-double-sculls gold in 2012.