Founded in 1869, Potomac Boat Club is the oldest rowing club in the Washington, D.C. area and one of the best known in the country. It is home to some 300 senior members, ranging from recreational rowers to Olympic athletes. PBC hosts several successful competitive programs for scullers and sweep rowers, and has served as the home of Arlington’s Washington-Liberty High School crew, one of the first public schools to have a rowing program, dating back 65 years. PBC strives to build and maintain a culture where diversity and inclusiveness are a reflex, not an initiative; where a deep sense of pride, passion and belonging is embraced by members and all who row at PBC; and where each member is committed to excellence, diversity and social responsibility.
The boathouse is listed in the DC Inventory of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places. Thanks to the efforts of the Potomac River Boathouse Foundation (PRBF), in 2017, the Club was awarded the District of Columbia Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation Stewardship (external link). In 2006, PBC was granted tax-exempt status by the IRS as a qualified social club under Section 501(c)(7) of the tax code. Pursuant to the requirements associated with this tax-exempt status, copies of the IRS forms are publicly available for viewing upon request of the Club Treasurer.
Affiliations
The Potomac River Boathouse Foundation (PRBF) was created in 2014 for the purpose of preserving for the benefit of the public the PBC historic boat house, in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Guidelines for Treatment of Historic Properties. The boat house is listed in the Local and National Register of Historic Places. The PRBF also supports efforts to preserve, beautify and maintain the scenic Potomac River shoreline and the historic Georgetown waterfront.
The Potomac River Sports Foundation (PRSF) is a private non-profit charity that provides grants and other support to pre-elite and elite athletes and programs in the Washington, DC metropolitan area to encourage their development and performance in major national and international competitions. Scores of PBC athletes and coaches assisted by the Foundation have won medals in such competitions as the Olympic Games, World Rowing Championships, U.S. National Rowing Championships, Royal Henley Regatta, and the Pan American Games..
PBC's legacy of being a development center of elite national and international athletes and a USRowing High Performance Partner Club, we aim to help train, support and develop the talent pool that will represent the United States in international competition. If you are interested in the opportunity to train out of PBC, contact our Racing Committee to inquire.
The Club has a long-standing relationship with Washington-Liberty High School in Arlington, Virginia, whose crew members train out of the Potomac boathouse. The alumni, friends, and boosters also have a W-L Crew Boosters website (external link) with information about the program and its storied history.
Neighbors
Half a mile downstream from PBC is Thompson Boat Center, the only other D.C.-sited rowing facility on the Potomac River. Thompson’s is home to a large number of high school and university crews, and also runs its own sweep and sculling programs.
Next door to the Potomac boathouse is the similar-vintage Washington Canoe Club, the area’s largest group of canoeists and kayakers. PBC maintains a friendly relationship with WCC, rooted in common interests in protecting recreational use of local waterways, including the Potomac River and C&O Canal.