22 July 2023

By Tim Koch

Tim Koch follows in the wake of a special race.

It is often said that the River Thames is “liquid history” so it is entirely appropriate that 4.6 miles/7.4 kms of the capital’s river that runs between London Bridge, the centre of the original Roman Londinium, and Chelsea, an area of South-West London on the north bank of the Thames, should be the setting for one of the world’s most historic boat races, the Doggett’s Coat and Badge Wager. “Wager” is from the old use of the word meaning trial by personal combat. 

Doggett’s had been running for 114 years when the Oxford – Cambridge Boat Race started in 1829, for 115 years when the amateur equivalent, the Wingfield Sculls, first ran in 1830 and for 124 years when Henley Regatta began in 1839. 

A race for single sculls, Doggetts is only open to particular members of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen, traditionally those newly out of their apprenticeship to be a waterman (passenger carrier) or lighterman (goods carrier) of the River Thames. The eligibility rules are on the official website. 

The modern racers have to contend with the problems that their working ancestors had to deal with every day: unsettled and unsuitable water containing swells, washes, bends and currents plus the need to avoid numerous immovable objects such as bridges, barges and buoys. This is over a course 0.6 km longer than the Putney to Mortlake Boat Race distance.

Doggett instigated his Wager in celebration of George I’s ascension to the throne of Great Britain and Ireland in 1714 which secured a Protestant line of succession. The race originally involved heavy passenger carrying wherries sculling against the tide, with “fouling” as part of the game, and start to finish could take two hours or more. Today, it is run with the tide in contemporary sculling boats umpired by the Bargemaster of the Fishmongers’ Company with a course record of just over 23 minutes. 

The winner has the costume of an 18th-century Waterman tailor made for him or her. This is a splendid scarlet frock coat (originally “Protestant orange”) with a large silver badge on the arm plus knee breeches, white stockings and buckled shoes – and the honour of joining a very exclusive group. 

The event may be comparatively unknown to the outside world but to the tight-knit community of the Thames Watermen and their families, many of whom have worked the river together for generations, a Doggett’s winner is still someone special.

The Doggett’s Coronation Pageant

To mark the accession to the throne of King Charles III, the 2023 Wager was preceded by a pageant of cutters, most representing a Livery Company or Guild (London’s ancient and modern trade associations), each boat flying the cypher of a monarch from King George I to King Charles III. The boats came from the Watermen, Goldsmiths, Founders, Barbers, Water Conservators, Chartered Architects, London Port Health Authority and Richmond Bridge Boat Club. Explanations of what each of these represent are on the Doggett’s website. 

The pageant began 2,000 metres into the course at Waterloo Bridge fifteen minutes before the race started. The boats then rowed in procession to a point near the former Battersea Power Station, just under 2,000 metres from the finish, to salute the scullers as they passed by raising their oars. The procession was led by the MV Havengore with several Doggett’s men and representatives of various livery companies, guests of the Watermen’s Company, on board. 

The 309th Doggett’s Coat & Badge Wager, 19 July 2023

As Umpire Prentice dropped his red flag at 11.30 to start the 309th Doggett’s, the weather and river conditions were good, the temperature was pleasant for both spectating and sculling and there was only a gentle breeze. The press launch was not at the start as, after following the procession of cutters, it had moored between Blackfriars Bridge (1,150 metres into the course) and Waterloo Bridge (2,000 metres) to wait for the race to pass and then follow behind. We had stopped by the moored line of barges opposite Coin Street, an often crucial part of the race where the scullers decide whether they should stay in the middle of the river or go inside the barges close to the south bank. 

I did not see it, but the scullers went off fairly evenly with Mathew (Red), sculling at 25 strokes per minute, taking an early and perhaps unexpected lead and putting clear water between him and second placed Riess (Black). At six foot four, Riess was perhaps eight inches taller than Mathew, but this advantage did not seem to be doing him any good at this stage. Emily (Light Blue), a near lightweight and five foot two inches tall, was back in third place but sculling gamely.

By Blackfriars, it would have been reasonable to think that the race was already effectively over, particularly as Riess was perhaps fifteen lengths down at one point. Mathew had been eligible to race last year but when Doggett’s was rescheduled because of a heatwave, he could not make the new date. He had seemingly used the extra training time well.

Both Riess and Matt deliberately “cut the corner” and went inside the moored line barges on the south bank just before Waterloo Bridge (2,000 metres). Emily stayed in the middle, thus taking a longer route but one with faster water. In the prevailing conditions, I would have expected everyone to stay in the centre but the two boys’ substantial lead continued when they came out from the line of barges.

Robert Treharne Jones, a race commentator not just for Doggett’s but also for many domestic and international regattas, takes up the story:

Riess really got into his stride… in the second and third miles. Emily was already well back in third position… (Umpire) Bobby Prentice took the decision to overtake her (just past Vauxhall Bridge 4,500 metres in)… Riess used the middle of the course extremely well to come up on Mathew’s stern and to overhaul him (between Vauxhall Bridge and the former Battersea Power Station). 

Robert Treharne Jones:

(Between Vauxhall Bridge and the former Battersea Power Station) Mathew’s fatigue really began to show and the fact that he had been passed probably knocked his confidence… (He went down to 18 strokes per minute and) had three successive crabs with his right hand blade and over he went. It must have been very frustrating that he had led for so long (about 23 minutes, nearly 6,000 metres metres, capsizing by the power station) and then come to that sort of end. After that, all Riess had to do was to paddle home to claim his prize…

Robert Treharne Jones:

All three scullers were having their first attempt at Doggett’s and all came into this event as relative novices so there were some doubts about whether they were going to be able to tackle the challenging conditions of sculling on the Thames in Central London – which can get a little lumpy… The crucial thing for me is that all three grew in confidence as the race unfolded. They went off fairly tentatively, as might be expected … and fatigue was an issue but… I think all three of them did amazingly well. 

Post-race, I asked Emily about her background. She is entitled to race Doggett’s as she has Freedom of the Watermen’s Company by Patrimony (that is, her father was a Freeman of the Company when she was born):

I got bound in 2018, my father was my Master, he was the Training Officer for the Watermen’s Company. He passed away in December 2020 so a lot of why I do the Coat and Badge is to honour the Freedom that I got from him, so it’s a very emotional thing. With Matt falling in, I came second and my Dad came third (in 1996)… I rowed at Queen Mary University of London, out of the UL boathouse at Chiswick. I did that for the three years that I was there, I mainly did sweep rowing but a year ago I made the switch to single sculling at Poplar (Poplar Blackwall and District Rowing Club on the Isle of Dogs, East London, a club that has produced many Doggett’s winners and competitors and which was the base for all three 2023 Doggett’s contenders). Since January, I have been out three or four times a week. Would I do it again next year? I’ll have to think about it (laughs), but I definitely want to keep rowing, I really enjoy it.

I asked Riess, fresh off the water, “How was it?”

Amazing… quite scary to begin with… I had a shaky start… Matt took a strong lead so it was a case of me having to catch up and keep my pace, the nerves were really kicking in… I went on the inside of the barges at Coin Street, people had different ideas but, at that point I thought I have that line, don’t change course, go for it… 

I learned to scull for Doggett’s… I thought it was something that I would only do for the race but it’s something that I’ve found not therapeutic, it’s been quite stressful, but it’s also been amazing, it’s been a good journey that I would like to continue.    

Simon McCarthy (Doggett’s 1984) had this to say:

I thought that it was a fantastic race… It’s not often that you see someone who is ten – fifteen length down at Westminster haul it through. I’ve just spoken to Matt, he said that he just seized up and was rowed down… In this race, anything can happen, you just have to stay with it and this paid dividends for Riess today… They were all guilty of (under-training), this is something that we try to drum into them… don’t leave it to the last minute…

I hope that both Emily and Mathew will be back next year, fitter and stronger. Emily would need to be lucky with her opponents to win but I have seen a few men who have entered Doggett’s in the past that are not as fast as she is. 

Mathew has proven that he is a fast and competent sculler – but currently only for 5,000 – 6,000 metres, not the required 7,400. A couple of hundred hours on the ergo over the next year will cure this. I suggest that Mathew prints out my picture of him capsizing and sticks to a wall in front of his rowing machine. When it starts to hurt, he should look at the picture and pull harder. 

Both Emily and Mathew should talk to last year’s winner, George Gilbert. Not a big man, George went from someone who froze on the start in his first Doggett’s to a genuine contender, all by dint of hard work. As he said a year before his final attempt, “I’m going to train my bollocks off…” Anyone lacking the aforementioned testes should note that you do not need bollocks to have cojones.