A Century of Rowing Excellence
2027 is the centenary of Kent's first trip to Henley, and we are marking it across the whole year. See what is planned, or tell us what you would come to.
Built on the Principles of Kent School
Kent School Boat Club is one of the longest-standing and most accomplished scholastic rowing programs in the country.
The club was founded in 1922 on the Housatonic, and rowing has been part of daily life at Kent ever since. From the start it was treated as more than a sport. The discipline, the reliance on the people in the boat with you and the responsibility that comes with both were always the point.
Kent made its name early. In 1927 it became the first school from outside Britain to race at Henley. On that first trip Father Sill met John Nugee, Assistant Warden of Radley College, and the exchange they began between the two schools grew into what is now the English-Speaking Union Secondary School Exchange, still running today.
Program Highlights
The Kent Girls Boat Club
The Kent Girls Boat Club was established in 1973, thirteen years after Kent opened its coordinate girls' school. The girls' program became a national force quickly, with New England championships, national titles and racing abroad.
Mark McWhinney became the program's head coach in the fall of 1981 and led it for twenty-one seasons. Kent girls won their first New England championship in 1983, then took four titles in five years. In 1986 and 1987 the first eight were back-to-back national champions. The program has won eight NEIRA titles and produced numerous national champions and elite rowers.
The two programs were eventually brought together into one club, with the same standards and the same resources, while keeping their own histories.
Kent rowing tends to follow people out of school. Alumni from both programs have raced at the top of the sport, coached and run programs of their own, and stayed in rowing in almost every other role there is.
For a lot of them, what they learned in the boat still shapes how they work with other people. Those habits were built on the Housatonic.
Today it is one program, conscious of its own history and still asking a great deal of the students in it.
From 1922 to the Present
A century of milestones, from Father Sill's first eight-oared shell to national championships and a return to Henley.
The Founding
Father Frederick H. Sill, Kent's founder and former Columbia coxswain, established KSBC and purchased the school's first eight-oared shell for $800. The program was grounded in Kent's ethos of simplicity, self-reliance, and sportsmanship.
The First School from Outside Britain
Kent became the first school from outside Britain to compete at Henley. Racing in the Thames Challenge Cup, the crew narrowly lost its only heat to Thames Rowing Club, who went on to win the trophy that year. A transatlantic tradition was born.
First Henley Championship
Kent won its first Henley championship in the Thames Challenge Cup. President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent Father Sill a letter of support and good wishes.
Henley Dominance and Tote Walker
Under head coach Thomas Dixon “Tote” Walker ’19, who led the program from 1937 to 1964, Kent won the Thames Challenge Cup again in 1938 and then twice more, in 1947 and 1950, a record no American school has bettered. Life magazine featured Kent crews in 1937 and again on its cover of June 28, 1948.
Coach Hart Perry Takes the Helm
William “Hart” Perry Jr. was appointed head coach. A former Dartmouth oarsman, Perry led KSBC for three decades, and from 1973 coached the girls program alongside the boys. In 1974 he became the first American elected a Steward of Henley Royal Regatta, a post he held until his death.
The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup
Kent's undefeated boys eight won the New England Championship, then traveled to Henley and won the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup, becoming the fourth American school to win it since the event opened to international crews in 1964. Their story is chronicled in Men of Kent by Rick Rinehart.
Girls Program Founded
The Kent Girls Boat Club was established, thirteen years after Kent opened its coordinate girls' school. Within a decade the program was a national force, winning four New England championships in the five years from 1983 to 1987.
Back-to-Back National Championships
Under Mark McWhinney ’75, who led the girls program for nearly two decades, the first eight won back-to-back national championships, cementing the girls’ program as one of the premier scholastic programs in the country.
Coach Eric Houston Appointed
After Hart Perry's retirement, Eric Houston (Kent class of 1980) took over the boys program. Houston had rowed for Perry and won NEIRA and Stotesbury gold as a Kent student, carrying on the tradition from the inside.
Girls Win at Henley Women's Regatta
The Kent girls program reached Henley, England, winning the Peabody Cup for junior eights at the Henley Women's Regatta in a time of 5:11. It was the program's first Henley championship, and a milestone that placed both Kent programs among the rare American scholastic crews to have won on the Thames.
One Boat Club
The Kent Girls Boat Club and the boys crew merged their organizational structures, unifying permanently as the Kent School Boat Club so that both had equal resources, coaching alignment, and one program rather than two.
Youth National Championship & Henley Final
Kent won the USRowing Youth National Championship in the boys 8+, then reached the Princess Elizabeth Cup final at Henley, falling to Eton College. The strongest Henley performance since 1972.
Girls Win National Championship
Kent's girls 1V eight won the NEIRA championship, and both the JV and Varsity won the National Schools Championship Regatta, underscoring the enduring depth and excellence of the girls' program.
The Centennial Celebration
Several hundred alumni gathered at Kent to celebrate 100 Years of Rowing, and Christine Wilson arrived as Kent’s first female girls’ head coach. At Henley 2022, the 1972 boys and 2002 girls championship crews reunited for a special row over the course. The two-volume history More Than Rowing by Peter Mallory was published.
100 Years at Henley
2027 marks one hundred years since Kent first raced at Henley. We are planning a year of gatherings around it, finishing on the course itself.
Be Part of the Next Chapter
As the club starts its second century, it still runs on what alumni and supporters put into it.