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  • Experience Olympic History first hand: Olympic Tours at the world famous River & Rowing Museum announced

Experience Olympic History first hand: Olympic Tours at the world famous River & Rowing Museum announced

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  • Four press tours during London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Rowing Regattas to provide rare and exclusive insight into Olympic rowing history.
  • Museum 20 minutes from Dorney Lake in Henley on Thames.
  • Priceless Olympic artefacts on display.
  • Hear some of the most compelling Olympic rowing stories from expert historians, Olympic Medallists and through rare artefacts.
  • Outside broadcast, free parking, broadband and desk and office space for filing copy and images available.

Linking with London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Rowing Regattas at Dorney Lake the River & Rowing museum – the world’s most significant rowing museum - is hosting four press tours with expert rowing historians around the Museum’s rare Olympic rowing heritage and objects.  The museum, located 20 minutes from Dorney Lake, in Henley-on-Thames is also inviting any media who wish to use its facilities to file copy while reporting on the Regatta and other rowing related stories. Full details and dates below.

The tours take place on Tuesday 24 July (1400hrs), 31 July (1600hrs) 2  August (1600hrs) and 1 September (1500hrs).

Full address and details below.

The River & Rowing Museum (www.rrm.co.uk) attracts over 114,000 visitors a year. Exhibits range from Anglo-Saxon log boats and contemporary cutting edge Olympic racing boats to highly significant Olympic memorabilia from the 1908 and 1948 games when the rowing was held metres from the museum on the River Thames in Henley. For London 2012 a special exhibition The Perfect Rower – 100 Years of Racing for Glory celebrates Olympic Rowing successes through fascinating artefacts and inspiring human stories. Highlights include:

  • Alan Campbell’s single scull - the second fastest single scull in history.
  • The boat Sir Steve Redgrave won his fifth Olympic gold medal in at the Sydney Games (this is in the permanent collection).
  • The gold medals of the 1948 rowing duo Burnell and Bushnell who, after being thrown in a boat together from polar opposite backgrounds just six weeks before the Games, went on to become Olympic champions – now the subject of a BBC film.
    • The Olympic Statue of Athena – once a floating trophy for Olympic Eight winners and first presented at the Henley Games in 1908 - on loan from the Olympic Museum in Lausanne and in Britain this year for the first time in 100 years.
  • The charting of rowing developments including the fascinating change in diet over the past 100 years – from ale, mutton and claret to protein shakes and weetabix.
  • Tom Aggar’s gold medal from the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.
  • Hear audio memories from those who attended the 1948 Olympic Regatta in Henley where Great Britain’s Richard Burnell took the Gold.
  • Objects from the 1908 Olympics, including an illuminated oar awarded to the victorious British eight.
  • The 1912 gold medal awarded to William Kinnear in the Single Scull in Stockholm.  

Group Tours

  • Tuesday 24 July (1400hrs) led by journalist and historian Chris Dodd
  • Tuesday 31 July (1600hrs) led by Paul Mainds, Trustee & Chief Executive
  • Thursday 2 August (1600hrs) led by Paul Mainds, Trustee & Chief Executive
  • Saturday 1 September (1500hrs) led by Paul Mainds,  Trustee & Chief Executive

If you wish to attend a group tour you must book your place with Jack Hickmott – email jack.hickmott@kallaway.com or call 00 44 (0)20 7221 7883

River & Rowing Museum, Mill Meadows, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire RG9 1BF

Free access and use of facilities

Press can attend the Museum to look around or use its facilities.  Production of business card / press card will grant free access. Press attending the River & Rowing Museum during the games will be offered free parking, outdoor broadcast support and high-speed broadband connection.

Notes To Editors:
Press Contacts:
Jack Hickmott: jack.hickmott@kallaway.com; 020 7221 7883
William Kallaway:
william.kallaway@kallaway.com; 020 7221 7883

IMAGES: http://mediacentre.kallaway.co.uk/rrm-picture-library.asp

Twitter: @River_Rowing

About Chris Dodd:

Christopher Dodd is an author and journalist who has written about rowing for forty years. He was rowing correspondent of The Guardian from 1970, and for the Independent since 2004. He was founding editor of Britain's Regatta magazine and FISA's World Rowing magazine, and left the Guardian's after thirty years as an editor in the Features department when he co-founded the River & Rowing Museum at Henley-on-Thames in 1994. He continues to contribute to newspapers and rowing magazines, including the electronic magazine RowingVoice of which he is co-editor, Rowing & Regatta magazine and the US magazine Rowing News.

He is an Honorary Vice President of the River & Rowing Museum Foundation.

More about the River & Rowing Museum
Designed by David Chipperfield and located on the banks of the River Thames in Henley on Thames, the Museum celebrates and explores four core themes through a wide variety of exhibitions and events across four galleries and special exhibitions:        

  1. River Gallery: Using the Thames as a starting point, the Museum explores the environmental, ecological and social impacts of water and rivers across the world.    
  2. Schwarzenbach International Rowing Gallery: One of the world’s most significant collections of rowing memorabilia, charting the sport from ancient beginnings to present day is held at the Museum.  The sport is also celebrated through temporary exhibitions throughout the year.    
  3. Invesco Perpetual Henley Gallery: This historic town home to the Henley Royal Regatta and host to the Rowing competition in the 1908 and 1948 Olympic Games has a colourful history dating back to the stone age all captured in a dedicated gallery.  
  4. The Wind in the Willows – hugely popular with children and families, this exhibition recreates the timeless E H Shepard illustrations from Kenneth Grahame's famous novel, taking visitors on a journey through the world famous riverside tale of Mr Toad and his friends.

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