Aberystwyth University Ladies’ Rowing Group

On this final day of Women’s History Month, I thought it might be fun to turn to the realm of sport.  This photograph came to me from Wales.  It has nothing written or printed on it.

Update, April 4: This morning I came across another copy of this image on a blog post titled Pulling Against the Stream: Historic Images of Women’s Rowing.  The women are identified as members of the Aberystwyth University Ladies Rowing Group [sic].  (I decided to add an apostrophe after Ladies in the title of this post.)  Two more photos of the group, taken in different years, can be seen on another page on the same website: From Ridicule to Respect: Some Images of Women’s Rowing.  I’ll see what else I can find out about them!

I assume the man standing with the women is a coach.  At first I also assumed that they must have rowed together in a single boat, called an eight, but in that case their coxswain would probably have been included in the photograph as well.  If anyone knows about rowing, please weigh in.  Also, what is that contraption the two women in the center are holding?

The back of the photo has another portrait glued to it.  This young lady doesn’t appear to be in the group above:

I have to say, their outfits don’t look very suitable for rowing, with the exception of their boater hats!