Day 3 of Town Bumps saw the Division 3 crews have their day off. There were lots of bumps, with some results seeing Cantabs crews get club and event record finishes.
Women’s Divisions
Women’s Division 1 was as exciting on Day 3 as on Day 2, with W3 and W4 both getting their 2nd bumps of the week. Starting in 8th – the highest position our W4 (Senior Women) has ever reached – W4 bumped Chesterton W1, meaning they start Day 4 as 7th on the river – the highest position a W4 has ever started since women’s crews raced in eights. 5 seat Teresa Baron said:
We put the power down straight out of the gate with the (respectfully confident) aim of wearing down Chesterton W1 over the first half of the course. Chesterton had a powerful start, but we soon started to close the gap, gaining our first whistle shortly after we came through the gut. After that, it was just a matter of keeping the drive going and closing, and we climbed to 2 whistles out of Grassy and 3 whistles past the Plough. Chesterton conceded the bump just before Ditton, in view of the cheering crowds on Plough Reach (and in beautiful accordance with the predictions made by those of us who spend Wednesday poring over race videos!). A longer haul than our bump on Tuesday, but a bump all the same, and a lovely paddle back home with greenery and a sprinkle of rain coming just in time to cool us down!
Photo credit Robert Owen
W3 (Senior Women) weren’t to be outdone, and had a great race chasing down X-Press W1, eventually catching them half way up the Long Reach. They next race starting 4th on the river, behind Cantabs W2, which is the highest position a W3 has ever started since women’s crews raced in eights. Stroke Isabella Mahoney said:
We had a better start than yesterday and were able to pull 2L away from Nines W1 who were chasing us. This gave us confidence to give it our all and we got our 1st whistle on X-Press round First Post. They held us at 1L all the way until the Long Reach, where we got our 2nd whistle, but then went back to 1 whistle! We were half way down the Long Reach when it was a case of ‘now or never’ and thankfully the crew backed up my quick change in rate and power to receive 3 whistles and then continuous quite quickly before the bump!
W2 (Returners) had another row over, racing well in 3rd position. W1 also had a row over to finish Head of the River, finishing well over 3L clear of City of Cambridge 1 despite a more inconsistent row.
Division 2 saw mixed performances, with the Women’s Progression Squad (W9) racing as sandwich boat and bumping City W8 to get into Division 2 for the first time, the first W9 to ever bump into Division 2. Alex Hirons of W9 said:
The start gun came ‘early’ by our countdown – luckily we’d all just about squared! We had our first whistle while still in our start sequence, with City conceding just before the A14 bridge.
Photo credit: Marjon Hilgenga
Elsewhere, Intermediate Women 1 (W5) and W7 (Hills Road) rowed over, with Intermediate Women 2 (W6) bumped by Nines W4.
Photo credit: Marjon Hilgenga
Cantabs women’s crews now finish +6 so far for the week, the highest climb so far of any club’s women’s crews.
Men’s Divisions
Men’s Division 4 proved to be an exciting affair, with Cantabs crews spoiling the party for X-Press. Whilst the J15/16 Juniors (M12) rowed over and Motley Crew (M17) were bumped back by Champs M7 who they had bumped on Day 1, Hills Road 3 (M13) bumped X-Press M6, Hunter Crew (M14) bumped X-Press M7 and Activ8 (M15) bumped X-Press M8. Phil Gunning, who was in M13’s bank party, said:
After 2 nights chasing the same X-Press crew and getting within a canvas of them at Grassy on Day 2, the crew set off from the outflow with a positive attitude to catch them at First Post. A good start saw them move up early to 1L, and then slowly closing the gap all the time. A good line round First Post got them on X-Press’ stern, and they had overlap coming into Grassy, with X-Press acknowledging the bump before M13 could overshoot the bend. This was the first bump for everyone in the crew, and they kept grins on their faces for the rest of the evening. Well done boys!
It was also mixed in Men’s Division 2, as the Senior Men (M5) rowed over, the Intermediate Men (M6) were bumped by St Radegund and the Aquaphobes (M7) bumped Robs M4. Phil Gunning, who was in the Aquaphobes’ bank party, said:
M7 had a controlled start from the outflow, moving up to 1L early on. Ahead, we could see City taking time to clear after a bump, with what looked like it might need some manoeuvring to get round, but then as typical the gates opened and a clear gap between the City crew and and Radegund parked on the opposite bank allowed for both Robs 4 and Cantabs to power through without missing a beat. At this time, Cantabs closed to 1/2L and pursued Robs round First Post Corner. Aquaphobes caught them in the latter part of the gut, coming into Grassy. Both the bank party, the cycle marshal and the umpire agreed that Robs were in no way impeded so the bump stood after a protest.
Hills 1 (M2) were the only crew to bump in Men’s Division 1, catching City M1. They start 5th today, the equal highest a Cantabs M2 has ever started. The Senior Men (M3) and Hills Returners (M4) were both bumped by Nines crews, whilst M1 rowed over 2nd on the river.
Cantabs men’s crews now finish +2 so far for the week.
Thank you to Guy Beauchamp and Bill Amos for the photos. You can find more of Guy’s Town Bumps photos on WeRow.
Historical bumps charts for men’s and women’s crews are on our website.
Reports for Day 3 can be found in the Cambridge Independent and Cambridge News.
