Day 4 saw Men’s Division 4 take the day off, and there were a lot of great performances from Cantabs crews.
Women’s Divisions
Women’s Division 1 wasn’t as exciting as the previous 2 days, with W1, W2, W3 and W4 (Senior Women) all rowing over, with W1 remaining Head of the River, crossing the line over 4L clear of City of Cambridge. Isabella Mahoney, stroke of W3, said:
We had a comfortable row over at a much lower rate, sitting behind our W2, with our focus on controlling what was behind and not in front. This meant no whistles for X-Press W1, who we bumped the day before, as we sat over 2L ahead. No more saving the legs on Friday, time to completely tank it and see how close we can get to our W2!
3 of the top 4 women’s crews are Cantabs crews, something unprecedented in women’s eights racing at Town Bumps, and a perfect demonstration of the strength in depth of women’s rowing at Cantabs.
This was backed up by performances in Division 2, where W5 (Intermediate Women) bumped City W5 and now finish as the highest W5 in Town Bumps. Stroke Hana Lango Allen said:
Starting 3rd in Division 2, we were chasing City 5 to become the best-placed W5 crew. We knew we were faster, but they made us work hard for the bump! We had a strong start and got the continuous whistle and ‘kill call’ in the gut, but then were held at a canvas for the whole of Plough Reach! With legs burning and everyone on the limit, we gave it one final push into Ditton Corner and Maria steered a great line to give us the hard-earned bump. Annoyingly, City didn’t concede on the first contact that was felt by the first crew, ut we kept the momentum for another few strokes until finally they had nowhere to go. We are now very excited about the prospect of another bump and maybe even promotion to Division 1 on the final day!
On the final day they will be looking to get a bump in Division 2 to make it as sandwich boat into Division 1. Elsewhere, W6 (Intermediate Women) were bumped by Chesterton W2, Hills Road 1 (W7) bumped Champs W4 and Hills Road 2 (W8) rowed over.
Division 3 was less successful, with the Progression Women (W9) bumped by City W8 and Racks Out (W10) bumped by Nines W6. These crews will be looking to turn things around on the final day!
Cantabs women’s crews are now +9 for the week so far, the highest climb across all clubs.
Men’s Divisions
In Men’s Division 1, the Cantabs men’s crews also demonstrated the strength in depth of men’s rowing at the club. M1 rowed over 2nd on the river, unphased by Robs behind them.
M3 (Senior Men) rowed over after a dramatic finish to their race where Robs M2 misunderstood where their finish line was, continuing to race after M3 wound down and trying to claim a bump!
M2 (Hills and Junior Squad) had yet another good race, bumping St Neots M1, to start 4th on Friday, the highest position a Cantabs M2 has ever reached. Nick Siragher, who was in M2’s bank party, said:
M2 sent St Neots home feeling cheated and very disappointed as they deprived them of an almost certain bump on Robs M1. With St Neots overlapping Robs’ canvas right along the Reach, they lacked the final push to bump. Meanwhile, M2 took their supporters literally as they screamed for a final push. With just seconds to spare, Emily Staplehurst steered her boat expertly to bump St Neots.
M2 will be racing at the British Rowing Junior Championships on Sunday in the J18 8+, with the crew all doubling up into other events.
Unfortunately M4 were bumped by Robs M3. Cantabs M2, M3 and M4 are the highest ranked M2, M3 and M4 on the river.
In Division 2, M5 (Senior Men) are the highest ranked M5, and had a good race to bump City M4. M6 (Intermediate Men) rowed over, and will be chasing City M6 on the final night to try and become the highest M6. M7 (Aquaphobes) bumped X-Press M3.
Division 3 saw the Coaches (M11) have to endure a row-over, as did M8 (Hills Road 2) and M9 (Poachers). M10 (Past Masters) were bumped by Chesterton M3.
The Cantabs men’s crews are now +3 for the week so far.
Thank you to Guy Beauchamp for the photos. You can find more on WeROW.
You can find historical bumps charts on our website, full bumps charts for 2019 on the CRA website, and an overall report on yesterday’s racing in the Cambridge Independent.
