A £400,000 new facility at the Oxford University Boat House at Wallingford Marina is now open for rowers.

Professor Louise Richardson, the new Vice-Chancellor, opened the final phase of the centre, the Fishlock Boat Shed, on Saturday.

The new building replaces an asbestos-clad workshop on the Thames-side site, alongside the Fleming Boat House.

High-quality facilities are now provided on the same site for all four of the University Boat Clubs – the conclusion of nearly 30 years of fundraising by guest of honour Richard Fishlock.

Mr Fishlock said: “The Oxford rowing community has been brilliant in responding to calls for support.

“I feel very honoured – the Fleming Boat House site is now complete and all our Oxford crews have great boating facilities and a permanent home.

“I am very proud to be part of it and to have had the backing of so many over the years.

“Rowing continues to play an important part in the image and awareness of this great university.”

Mr Fishlock rowed in the winning Oxford Boat Race crew of 1960, which went on to represent Great Britain at the Rome Olympics the same year.

The 150th anniversary of the OUBC in 1989 triggered Mr Fishlock’s first campaign that created the office, gym and rowing tank at the university’s Iffley Road Sports Centre.

In 2005 he led the initiative for the purchase of the Wallingford Marina site, and the construction of what is now the Fleming Boat House, completed in 2009.

The campaign for the final phase of development started in 2013 and was funded and completed in under three years.

Trustee Tom Barry said the Oxford University’s Boat Club Trust Fund has, with the benefit of such extensive fundraising, provided the capital for all the projects.

The vice-chancellor spoke of the importance of rowing to the university, and paid tribute to the commitment of the members of the Oxford University clubs.

She also acknowledged the contributions of their many supporters, and declared her determination that the university’s sports facilities at Iffley Road should reach a similar standard to those at the Fleming Boat House.

The men’s and women’s lightweight crews, now based at Fishlock Boat Shed, will race Cambridge at Henley on Saturday, March 19.

The men’s and women’s open-weight clubs will contest the Cancer Research UK Boat Races on Sunday, March 27, over the traditional four-and-a-quarter miles from Putney to Mortlake on the London Tideway..