The Segreants’ Club
The Segreants’ Club is the Downing Boat Club alumni association. Its aim is to support the boat club, and to run social events, including occasional alumni rowing events. All Downing rowers, whether they rowed one day, one term, or many years, are invited to join.
The Segreants has grown rapidly, and now has nearly 200 supporters, ranging from 1930s matriculants, to the most recent graduates.
The Club offers a discount and payment holiday for recent graduates – the annual membership rate of £50 can be paid in the March following your graduation, thus making the first 9 months free.
If you would like to join the Segreants, or have any questions about membership, please contact the following email address: .
Social Events
The highlight of the Segreants’ calendar is the annual Race and Dinner held on the first Saturday of Easter Term. All Boat Club members are welcome to attend, whether they rowed once in the summer Rugby boat, or devoted every morning to 1st boat training. This well-attended event offers an opportunity to establish links between past and present Boat Club members, or simply reunite long-lost friends.
In the morning, the current college crews race Head of the Cam, and then various Segreants’ boats race in the afternoon, usually with excellent results. After racing, there is an informal reception in the boathouse. The Segreants’ dinner is held in the hall in the evening, the biggest dinner of the year, with alumni and current students all attending, which makes for a fantastic evening.
Segreants’ Regatta and Dinner
The date of the next Segreants’ Day is likely to be Saturday, 26th April, 2025. More details will be shared closer to the time. If you would like to row in one of the alumni crews on the day, please get in touch. Representatives from the segreants will organise crews for the Head of the Cam once the date has been confirmed. All alumni, younger or less young, are welcome! And whether you rowed 1 year ago or 10 years ago, no recent experience is necessary! It’s set to be a great reunion!
Please get in touch with us via the contact form on our website if you have any questions.
Keeping alumni updated
The Segreants’ Trust sends out an annual newsletter, (The Segreant). This includes a summary of the year’s events and reports from the departing captains. In addition, it highlights any important dates for the coming year and includes articles about former DCBC members. Please contact the editor if you have any questions or input for the magazine. The editor is Holly Hill, (2013) who is currently training with GB Rowing.
In addition to this, the club has an email list to which we regularly send out updates, including crew lists, progress reports, and daily Bumps reports. If you would like to be added to this, please email the Captains.
Supporting current student members
The Segreants’ can often ensure that capital projects, sometimes out of the reach of the Club, can be funded, providing immediate benefit to the Boat Club.
In 2017, the astonishing generosity of the Segreants funded the purchase of a truly world-class VIII+ for Downing M1, named after DCBC alumnus Leo Judd. This support propelled M1 up the May Bumps chart.
Downing alumnae raise funds for new W1 boat
Following a call to arms amongst former women members of DCBC, funds were raised for a new VIII for W1 within a matter of weeks, during the autumn of 2017. The boat was delivered at the start of 2018, in time for training for the Lents. The boat was named in honour of Rachel Penny, (née Pearce, 1986) on Segreants’ Day on Saturday 21st April, 2018. Rachel carried W1 to bump up to 2nd on the river in the Lents, and up to 4th in the Mays.
For more information about this, and other fundraising plans in support of women’s rowing at Downing, please contact our Women’s Captain, Max Filley, at .
It is intended that, in the coming years, the Segreants will increase the financial support it offers to DCBC, and in doing so, support the club in returning both the men and women to the Lents and Mays Headships.
Rowing for the Segreants
In recent years, past members have re-discovered the enjoyment of rowing. The Segreants often enter a crew into the Fairbairn’s competition in Michaelmas term, and the Head of the Cam in the Easter Term. If you are interested in racing for the Segreants at any time, please email Mike, and see the current updates for information regarding this year’s racing. In 2018, the Segreants entered two crews at the Head of the Charles race. The video from the trip can be watched below.
Enquiries?
If you wish to support the work the Segreants Trust does, attend any of the events, or have any other queries, please contact Mike, Secretary of the Segreants Club.
