On 17 September 2025, British Rowing published a statement announcing that Mr Henry Bailhache-Webb had been permanently suspended from British Rowing activities. This reflected the decision of a British Rowing Case Management Group. The allegations against Mr Bailhache-Webb related primarily to an athlete feedback sheet (the ‘toughness sheet’) that Mr Bailhache-Webb circulated during his tenure as Head Coach at Oxford Brookes University Boat Club.

Due to concerns regarding procedural irregularities and proportionality of the decision communicated on 17 September 2025, British Rowing referred the matter to an independent professional risk assessor, and separately to a newly constituted independent Case Management Group. The independent risk assessment found that Mr Bailhache-Webb’s circulation of the toughness sheet “represents a serious but isolated boundary failure”. The independent risk assessment describes having reviewed evidence that demonstrates Mr Bailhache-Webb to be “an exceptional, respected coach who demonstrated strong professionalism, genuine care for athlete wellbeing, and a positive role in mentoring and developing athletes”.

Mr Bailhache-Webb has taken full responsibility for the “toughness sheet” and acknowledges that the language used in the toughness sheet was unprofessional. He is sorry for any hurt that it has caused. The independent risk assessment notes that Mr Bailhache-Webb “has demonstrated meaningful insight, clear accountability, genuine empathy, and credible commitment to safeguarding standards”.

The risk assessment and the independent Case Management Group both recommend that Mr Bailhache-Webb should not be subject to any suspension. Both recommend, however, that if Mr Bailhache-Webb elects to return to any coaching or leadership role under British Rowing’s jurisdiction, he should be subject to certain conditions during the first 12 months of taking the new position. British Rowing accepts the conclusions and recommendations of the Case Management Group and independent risk assessment.  Mr Bailhache-Webb can therefore return to coaching and, should he decide to do so, the conditions will include periodic training, supervision, reporting and formal reviews. Mr Bailhache-Webb has indicated his full agreement to the proposed conditions. Mr Bailhache-Webb intends to undertake all of the recommended training and indeed he has already completed a UK Coaching Safeguarding course.

British Rowing acknowledges and apologises for the errors it made in relation to the initial decision against Mr Bailhache-Webb and we are thankful to him for his cooperation in resolving the situation.

British Rowing is committed to creating and upholding a safe and respectful environment for everyone in the rowing community. British Rowing notes that the use of the “toughness sheet” at Oxford Brookes University Boat Club was clearly not acceptable and does not have any place in our sport.

The post British Rowing statement regarding Mr Henry Bailhache-Webb: February 2026 appeared first on British Rowing.

On 17 September 2025, British Rowing published a statement announcing that Mr Richard Spratley had been permanently suspended from British Rowing activities. This reflected the decision of a British Rowing Case Management Group. The allegations against Mr Spratley concerned alleged failings during his tenure as Director of Rowing at Oxford Brookes University Boat Club, including as regards to the British Rowing Weighing Guidance.

Due to concerns regarding procedural irregularities and proportionality of the original decision, British Rowing referred the matter to an independent professional risk assessor, and separately to a newly constituted Case Management Group.

Following this process, the risk assessment found that there had “been no inappropriate conduct by Mr Spratley”. The risk assessment and the CMG have both recommended that Mr Spratley should not be subject to any suspension, nor sanction of any kind. British Rowing accepts this decision of the CMG and confirms that Mr Spratley is now free to take part in all activities under British Rowing’s jurisdiction.

British Rowing acknowledges the errors in relation to the initial decision and apologises to Mr Spratley for the distress and hurt caused by the publication on 17 September 2025.

British Rowing is committed to creating and upholding a safe and respectful environment for everyone in the rowing community. Mr Spratley strongly shares this concurrence. Though Mr Spratley no longer holds his role at Oxford Brookes University Boat Club, nor holds any other leadership role in rowing, he has recently undertaken the British Rowing-endorsed Safeguarding Workshop (as prepared and delivered by UK Coaching) as part of his ongoing commitment to developing his understanding in relation to safeguarding and best practice.

The post British Rowing statement regarding Mr Richard Spratley: February 2026 appeared first on British Rowing.

British Rowing is aware of media coverage reporting concerns at Leander Club, which were originally raised last year.

The safety and wellbeing of everyone in the rowing community is our highest priority.  If you have any concerns, we strongly encourage you to speak up – whether to your Club Welfare Officer, raise with our team at safeguarding@britishrowing.org, or directly to the Police if a criminal offence may have occurred.

By sharing concerns, you help ensure that individuals receive the support they need and that appropriate action can be taken to address the issues. We are here to support you throughout the process in a confidential and respectful way. If you report a concern of this nature, we will immediately assign a female case officer to guide and support you through the process.

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The post Statement: Reported concerns at Leander Club appeared first on British Rowing.

We are committed to ensuring a safe and enjoyable environment for the entire rowing community through continuous improvement of all aspects of the sport.

If you have any concerns, we strongly encourage you to speak up and report them to your Club Welfare Officer or our governance team at safeguarding@britishrowing. Your voice matters to us.

The post Statement: Safeguarding concerns in Scotland appeared first on British Rowing.

Thank you to all clubs who have completed the affiliation process for 2025/26, which was due by 31 March 2025. Club affiliation fees enable British Rowing to provide clubs with a wide range of benefits including ClubHub, BROE2 and other support and advice as well as delivering content to keep their members safe, informed and inspired.

As of 11am on Wednesday, 30 April 2025, the open, university, school and alumni rowing clubs listed below by region have not completed the affiliation process and are therefore at risk of being suspended from entering British Rowing affiliated competitions.

We only list clubs as a last resort, so if your club is listed please ensure that your committee members or other club officials give this their attention as soon as possible.

UPDATED 2 October – Clubs now removed.

Any club whose affiliation remains unpaid by 1 October 2025 will be automatically removed as an Affiliated Member as outlined in the British Rowing Regulations. Restoring the affiliation will be at the discretion of British Rowing on payment of any outstanding fees. After this time, we will require any club wishing to re-affiliate to do so as a new club.

Eastern

Brightlingsea Coastal Rowing Club – Resigned and removed.
Eton Mission Rowing Club – Removed.

Thames Upriver

Aldworthian Boat Club – Removed.
Osler House Boat Club – Removed. In contact 16/09/2025

Yorkshire

Hull University Boat Club – Removed. In contact 01/10/2025

Please be aware that from 5pm on Monday, 12 May 2025 any club with an incomplete affiliation and unpaid affiliation fees will be automatically suspended from competing as outlined in the British Rowing Regulations. This means that these clubs’ access to the British Rowing Online Entry System (BROE2) will be removed and the clubs shall not be permitted to compete in any affiliated competition as defined under the Rules of Racing. This could impact the clubs’ members and any competitions the clubs may have entered or want to enter in the future. Full BROE2 access will be restored once the affiliation payment has been received.

To complete your affiliation, either your Secretary, Membership Secretary, Treasurer or ClubHub Admin should . If for any reason you are unable to access your club’s profile, or if you need any other assistance, please email clubs@britishrowing.org.

The affiliation process includes declaring all club members, the option of uploading an up-to-date club constitution and club rules, updating committee details, answering three club satisfaction survey questions and paying for affiliation. We also ask clubs to upload an up-to-date summary of their liability insurance policy. This can all be done online through the .

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Creating a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for everyone in the rowing community is our priority. We continue to work collaboratively with Oxford Brookes University as it implements the recommendations identified through its . This is an ongoing process and we are committed to supporting the University in ensuring the programme is one of the leading high-performance rowing environments in the world. We will work with Oxford Brookes to support the development and success of its athletes and coaches into the future.

If you have any concerns, we strongly encourage you to speak up and report them to your Club Welfare Officer or our governance team at governance@britishrowing.org. Your voice matters.

The post Statement: An update on Oxford Brookes University Boat Club appeared first on British Rowing.

Every year we review our membership and club and competition affiliation prices, taking external factors like inflation into account and assessing whether the various fees are fair and proportionate to all.

Membership prices from 1 April 2025

The price of Umpire and Coach memberships have remained unchanged, reflecting the essential contribution that these members make to rowing.

RACE – Adult: £75
RACE – Student: £48
RACE – Junior: £ 40
RACE – Adaptive: £40
ROW: £45
COACH: £30
UMPIRE: £30
COMMUNITY: £27
RACE – Scottish and Overseas (Race Licence only): £20
Day Tickets: £20

British Rowing members get access to a wide range of benefits and discounts including specialist rowing public liability and personal accident insurance relevant to their role in the sport, as well as other benefits tailored to their membership type.

We also continue to provide access to a great range of discounts for members, which include:

• A generous discount on dryrobe® products
• Discounted cycle insurance from Bikmo
• Discounts with Waterrower, EXR – the virtual indoor rowing app, Yoga for Rowers, Row the Distance medals, entry to the River and Rowing Museum in Henley, and lots more!

If you have any questions about membership, please contact membership@britishrowing.org.

Club affiliation fees from 1 April 2025

Standard Affiliation

Base price (for the first 10 club members): £120
Per member fee (after 10 members): £11

Affiliation Plus

This affiliation product, introduced in 2024, includes liability insurance and fundraising support in addition to the benefits of Standard Affiliation – find out more here.

Base price (for the first 10 club members or fewer): £630
Per member fee (after 10 members): £11

All affiliated clubs have access to a range of key benefits and services, have a say in the running of the sport at a national and regional level, voting rights, competition rights, as well as a number of tools and systems to help run their club including:

• Incident Reporting
• – centralised Learn to Row Course booking portal (NEW from 2024)
• Racing – Online Entries and and Competition Admin Support
• – Coach Education and volunteer training
• 20% off access to the
• Free associate membership of (the British Association for Sustainable Sport).

Affiliated clubs also receive a free copy of the British Rowing Almanack (though can if they do not want one).

If you have any questions about club affiliation, please contact clubs@britishrowing.org.

Competition and tour fees

Competition and tour affiliation fee from 1 April 2025: £220/day

Affiliated and tours competitions benefit from a wealth of advice and information to help you run affiliated regattas and head races, including private matches, and tours. Competitions and tours also benefit from specialist rowing liability insurance cover.

If you have any questions about competition or tour affiliation, please contact competitions@britishrowing.org.

BROE fees from 2 June 2025: 75p/£1.50 per rowing seat (competitions and tours will now receive a 50% discount if their results are finalised online within five days of the Competition, as required by the Rules of Racing). Seat fees incur VAT.

[Note: When these fee changes were first published, it was announced that BROE fees would also be charged from 2 June 2025 for competitions and tours that cancel as they have the same use of the system as those that run. This planned change was subsequently withdrawn before it came into force following feedback from the rowing community.]

This is the first change in BROE fees since the system was first launched in 2005, since when time entry fees have generally increased considerably.

The post British Rowing fees for Members, Clubs, Competitions and Tours from 1 April 2025 appeared first on British Rowing.

British Rowing is aware of concerns being raised about coaching practices at Oxford Brookes University Boat Club.  We’re working with the club and University to understand and address the concerns.

Creating a safe and respectful environment for everyone in the rowing community is our priority. If you have any concerns, we strongly encourage you to speak up and report them to your Club Welfare Officer or our governance team at governance@britishrowing.org. Your voice matters.

The post Statement: Coaching practices at Oxford Brookes University Boat Club appeared first on British Rowing.