In praise of Thomas Doggett and the Thames watermen | The Guardian

The world's oldest continuously held sporting event took place on Friday on the sunlit waters of the Thames. Six young men bent their backs to send their sculling boats skimming up the river on the flood tide, past the National Theatre, Festival Hall, London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, Lambeth Palace, MI6 headquarters and Battersea power station before one of them was declared the 299th winner of Doggett's Coat and Badge: a real coat, of the scarlet cloth associated with Thames watermen, and a real badge, an engraved silver medallion the size of a dinner plate, to be worn on its left sleeve.

Rowers race on the Thames as they strive to win the 299th running of Doggett's Coat and Badge. Photograph: Felix Clay for the Guardian

Nowadays few people are familiar with the race for newly qualified watermen, held over a stretch of four miles and five furlongs from London Bridge to Cadogan Pier in Chelsea, but it has been held annually since 1715, making such contests as the Ashes (first played in 1882) and the Wimbledon championships (1887) look like mere striplings. The organisers compensated for its one unavoidable suspension, between 1939 and 1946, by holding nine races in 1947 to make up the deficit and assure an unbroken list of winners dating back to its creation by an Irish actor and theatre manager named Thomas Doggett as a way of celebrating King George I's accession.  Read more; In praise of Thomas Doggett and the Thames watermen | Richard Williams | Sport | The Guardian