Pauline Churcher (1934-2023)

We are sorry to share the news that Thames vice-president Pauline Churcher has died.

Pauline (née Baillie Reynolds) learned to row at Reading University in 1953 and went on to join United Universities Boat Club, the forerunner of the Thames women's programme. She represented UUBC and Great Britain through the early 1960s, and was one of the first women members at Thames when UUBC merged with the club in 1973.

Pauline qualified as an umpire in the late 1960s and kept going until 2004. She was chair of the British women's rowing committee from 1976 and in 1988 helped found Henley Women's Regatta. She served as chief umpire for HWR and was also secretary of the Head of the River Race for many years.

At Thames, Pauline sat on the committee in various roles, including Honorary House Treasurer and vice-captain, and was later named vice-president.

Pauline married Bernard Churcher in 1969 and they were happily married until his death in 2001. In her later years, she could often be seen at the club on Sunday mornings sharing conversation with Tim Wilson at the bar, before his death a few years ago.

She leaves a tremendous legacy of service and contribution to women's rowing and to Thames, and will be missed by many in the rowing world far and wide.