09/09/2026
🚣♀️ The Great River Race returns this Saturday, 12th September! 🚣♂️
One of the river’s most anticipated events is back!
Known as London’s ‘River Marathon’, the Great River Race sees more than 300 rowing crews from around the world race 21.6 miles along the Thames, from Millwall in the east to Richmond in the west, passing beneath some of London’s most famous bridges.
This year, The Ahoy Centre is incredibly proud to be entering all seven of our Thames Waterman Cutters, crewed by rowers from around the world who have generously donated and fundraised for The Ahoy Centre.
We are immensely grateful to every Great River Race team fundraising for us this year. Here’s a little about some of the amazing crews taking part:
🚣 Team Rowman Warder
Taking part in the Great River Race will be a huge challenge as we’re all novices! But we’re determined to race well and, in the process, raise money for four incredible charities — MND, RNLI, Veterans Aid and, of course, The Ahoy Centre.
These charities are all very close to our hearts. Our training has gone well and we’re really looking forward to race day!
🌴 Miami Beach Rowing Club
We’re super excited for the opportunity to row a Thames Waterman Cutter. Our team consists of four women and their grown-up children. We’re members of the Miami Beach Rowing Club Masters Programme, and three years ago we decided to combine our love of rowing with our love of travelling.
We took part in the Vogalonga festival in Venice, and last year travelled to France for the Traversée de Paris. We’re incredibly grateful for the chance to row on the Thames this year and are already looking forward to our next adventure!
🦘 Freshy Roos & Freshy Koalas
Our crews range in age from 61 to 80 years, proving that adventure certainly doesn’t have an expiry date!
Whether we come home with silverware or simply great stories remains to be seen — but we’ll certainly be flying the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club flag with plenty of enthusiasm (and hopefully in the right direction!).
🍻 Pelton Pursers
A few of us took part eight years ago and had a great time, raising a few pound notes along the way for a very worthwhile local charity.
We thought it would be a nice thing to do again… until training began and we realised we’re eight years older and not as fit as we thought!
That said, we’re hoping for a good time, to raise a good amount, and to have a few beers afterwards to celebrate!
🦢 Stour Rowing Club 1 & 2
Our teams, Ahoy Cutter 7 and Ahoy Cutter 8, bring together a fantastic mix of experience.
For some of us, this will be our very first Great River Race, while others are seasoned veterans, with up to nine races under their belts — including a race winner!
Some of us are hoping to compete, whereas the more experienced members have told us to expect madness and mayhem, relax and enjoy the experience. 😂
What we all share is a love of rowing and a passion for taking on a challenge together.
We normally row traditional gigs on the River Stour, on the Suffolk and Essex border, and race throughout the winter in the Harker’s Yard Gig Association series against other Essex clubs.
We’ve adopted the name “The Manningtree Swans”, inspired by the famous flocks of swans that are a familiar sight on our home waters.
💙 All of us at The Ahoy Centre are incredibly grateful for the effort these 56 rowers, passengers and coxes are making for The Ahoy Centre!
As it stands, the combined donation and fundraising total is just shy of £20,000 — a monumental and incredibly generous effort from everyone involved.
THANK YOU! 🙌
We’d also like to say a huge thank you to the team of dedicated volunteers who give up their time, energy and expertise every year to organise and deliver the Great River Race.
💙 Want to support our teams’ fundraising efforts?
Make a donation here: https://ahoycentre.enthuse.com/cp/400c3/TheAHOYCentre #!/
🚣 Interested in taking part in the Great River Race 2027 for The Ahoy Centre?
Register your interest here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/6wwD108tSX
