The Brown University men's rowing team represents Brown University in men's intercollegiate rowing and is the oldest organized intercollegiate sport at the university. Since its revival in 1949, the Brown University rowing program has become one of the most successful collegiate rowing programs in the world, winning men's and women's national titles, as well as championship titles at the world-famous Henley Royal Regatta in London. In addition, the program has produced 32 Olympic rowers. Brown rowing is characterized by its home course, the Seekonk River, and its historic rivalry with Yale and Harvard. The Brown rowing blade is half white (on bottom) and half brown (on the top). History The early years (1857–1886) Brown rowing was founded June 4, 1857, with the establishment of the University Boat Club, and consisted of a single six-oar shell, the Atalanta. According to the Encyclopedia Brunoniana, on September 11, 1857, the Brown Paper wrote: "...She was there received by the club, borne to the water's edge and launched on the waves of Narragansett Bay with enthusiastic demonstrations from an assembled crowd." – The Brown Paper, September 11, 1857 Described as "a cumbersome lap-streak, weighing three or four hundred pounds," the shell only competed once, in a race on July 27, 1859, against Harvard and Yale at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Massachusetts. Because the boat weighed almost more than the Harvard and Yale boats, Brown lost the race, finishing over five minutes behind the victorious Harvard crew. It was not until eleven years later, on June 17, 1860, that Brown won against Harvard and Yale, claiming its first and only race between 1857 and 1950. According to Harold Amber's book, Ever True: The History of Brown Crew, Brown, in a spectacular series of events, recovered from a collision with an Amherst boat, executed a pristine turn, and overtook Yale and Harvard to win by six lengths. However, after that 1860 race, little changed over the next 26 years, and Brown suffered defeat after defeat, mishap after mishap; on November 8, 1874, the college boathouse caught fire and burned down, the club was almost constantly in debt, and interest in the program fluctuated so much that often there were not enough oarsmen to fill a boat. By 1886, the university had given up crew in favor of directing athletic funds towards baseball. The revival (1947–1949) The topic of Brown crew was brought up off and on