After Monday and Tuesday’s racing was cancelled because of the heatwave, Town Bumps began on Wednesday with all divisions racing every day for the rest of the week. Cantabs crews enjoyed some great racing and finished +9 overall, the biggest climb of all clubs, including W1 rowing over as Head of the River.
Women’s Divisions
Women’s Division 3 kicked the women’s squads’ bumps campaign off in style as 4 of the 5 crews bumped. All junior crews bumped up.
Near the top of the division, W9 (‘COGS’) bumped Nines W6. Close behind, W8 (Intermediate Women 2) bumped Isle of Ely W2 before First Post, and W11 (Junior Squad 3) caught Nines W7 in less than 1 minute. W14 (‘Racks Out‘) are no longer bottom of the river after bumping City W12 in 35 strokes. Unfortunately an equipment malfunction in W12 (Junior Squad returners) resulted in a boat-stopping crab which meant that they were caught by St Neots W3. They’ll be looking for a mishap-free race allowing them to bump St Neots back today. Cantabs W8 (Junior Squad 2) rowed over comfortably at the head of the division.
Division 2 saw 2 bumps and 2 row-overs. Cantabs W5 (Junior Squad 1) bumped City W4 at the start of their campaign to bump into Division 1 on Friday. W6 (Senior Women 5) had strong start and got inside 3/4L on Nines W5 before First Post, before being forced to go wide to avoid a crew whose stern had swung out into the river when clearing. They then had to make an emergency start as another crew had cleared oto the outside of the corner going into the gut. Unfortunately they were unable to disentangle themselves and restart before Cantabs W7 (Intermediate Women 2) bumped Isle of Ely W2 before First Post, and W11 (Junior Squad 3) caught Nines W7 in less than 1 minute.
Division 1 was not eventful, with all of W1-W4 (Senior Women) rowing over. W1 rowed over comfortably as Head of the River, with W2 and W3 rowing over behind as 3rd and 4th on the river. W4 rowed over after Nines W1 bumped XPress W1 ahead of them, and they’ll be looking to get a bump on XPress on Thursday.
Men’s Divisions
Men’s Division 3 saw Cantabs go +1 with 1 row-over, and 1 bump of each kind.
M9 (Past Masters) rowed over, unable to catch City M9 ahead of them. Further down, M10 (Hunters) enjoyed a bump before First Post on XPress M4.
After a Chaplinesque start which culminated in stroke backing down as the lanyard of the start cannon was being pulled, we veered across the river like a drunken sailor returning from shore leave. This was quickly put right by the only responsible adult in the boat: our cox. We then settled into a stroke rate faster than a meerkat’s heartbeat and slowly hauled in our prey (XPress M4). The sight of our synchronised splashing blades quickly had a debilitating effect on the morale of their crew, and they made the decision to get off the river with all possible speed. Unfortunately, with the river low they failed in their endeavour and ploughed into the bank. We rowed past them and the bump was ours. It was all over by First Post, and the stroke coach recorded an epic 300 metres were needed for us to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Paul Robinson, M10
M11 (Invetereight), the only septuagenarian crew at Cantabs, were unfortunately bumped by XPress M5.
Men’s Division 2 saw one bump, with M6 (Cantabs Coaches) surprising themselves with a bump on City M7 at Grassy. Elsewhere, Cantabs M7 (Junior Squad 2) rowed over behind City M8 and M8 (Poachers) rowed over with bumps happening in front and behind them. They’ll be looking to bump XPress M3 on Thursday.
In Men’s Division 1, M1 (Senior Men 1) had a great race, managing to get 3 whistles on Nines M1 at the head of the river. Further down, M2 (Hills Road returners) weren’t able to bump Robs M1 which contained Olympian Charlie Cousins, and M3 (Hills Road 1) rowed over behind XPress M1. M4 (Senior Men 2) were delighted after rowing only 354 metres before bumping Champs M1. M5 (Aquaphobes), who started behind M4, rowed over comfortably behind them.
Thank you to the sublime Bill Amos for the photos. More can be found on the Cantabs Facebook page.
