On the 40th anniversary of women’s rowing in Town Bumps, the Cantabs women went +34 for the week, won an historic 7 set of blades and retained the Headship for the 6th consecutive year of racing.

Cantabs was the most successful club at Town Bumps for the 3rd consecutive year, winning the John Jenner Trophy after the club performances saw us finish +28 for the week. The next highest climb of the other participating clubs was +14.

Women’s Divisions

This year, 13 Cantabs women’s crews took part in Town Bumps from across all squads and age ranges at the club. This contrasts with 1983, when Cantabs had two women’s coxed fours entered into the event! In what ended up being a perfect celebration of women’s rowing at Cantabs over the last 40 years, 7 crews won blades after a week of excellent performances across all squads.

In Division 3, W9 (Intermediate Women 2) enjoyed 5 bumps across the week on Champs W4, Nines W6, City W7, XPress W3 and Chesterton W2 to win blades and bump into Division 2. They’re the first W9 to finish in Division 2 in the history of the event. W10 (Junior Squad 2) also won blades by bumping Chesterton W3, Champs W4, Nines W6 and City W7. W11 (the ‘Cambridge Old Girls Squad’) had a row over on day 1, as they started behind Cantabs W10, and went on to bump Chesterton W3 and Champs W4, before a row over on the final day. W12 (‘Racks Out‘) also had a good week, bumping City W9 and Isle of Ely W2, with row overs on the other two days as crews ahead of them bumped out before they had their chance on a bump. Holding up the forte was W12 (Progression Squad), which mainly comprised of athletes from our spring Learn to Row programme, and they enjoyed a bump on City W9 on the Thursday.

Every single Cantabs crew in Women’s Division 2 bladed. W8 (Junior Squad 1) went from being sandwich boat on Day 1 to bumping right into the division, taking scalps from City W7, XPress W3, Chesterton W2 and Nines W5 across the week, rarely racing for more than 1 minute! W7 (Intermediate Squad 1) made it blades for all of the Intermediate Squad crews by bumping Chesterton W2, Nines W5, Radegund W1 and City W6. W6 (Senior Women 6) were a completely scratch crew of either current athletes from the Senior Squad or former Junior Squad athletes who are now at university. They won their blades by bumping Nines W5, Radegund W1, City W6, and Champs W3. This year’s W5 were 2022’s unlucky crew, being denied bumps on multiple days by river blockages, and so were out for revenge this year. They achieved this in style, going +5 over the week by bumping Nines W3, Cambridge Vets, Robs W3, Champs W2 and Isle of Ely W1 to finish in Division 1.

In Division 1, things get more difficult, with Cantabs occupying 4 of the top 7 spots and meaning that there isn’t as much room for bumping as in other divisions. There was a minor calamity for Cantabs W3, who suffered a week of multiple crew changes due to illness or last minute work commitments. This meant that this crew of former squad members, who haven’t been rowing this season, started 5th in Division 1 and were surrounded by crews who had done more rowing together in the previous week than W3 had in a year! They rowed over on Day 1, before an unfortunate boat-stopping crab on the second day meant that Cantabs W4 behind them bumped them on First Post Corner. Unfortunately, on the Friday they were bumped just before the finish line after an incredible race along the Reach.

Elsewhere, after bumping W3, W4 (Senior Women 4) set about chasing down Nines W1 on the Thursday and Friday. Both days, they managed to close to just inside half a length, but didn’t have the speed required to make the bump. A phenomenal achievement for a 4th 8+ who had their first full crew outing on the day of the race! There was nail biting stuff for W2 (Senior Women 2), who started 3rd on the River, as they suffered a mishap on day 1 which saw their rudder fall off during the warm-up. A quick change on the way to the start was made as the crew had to land, grab whatever women’s 8+ was left on a rack, and push off again so they could race. Fortunately, they were able to have a comfortable row-over despite the stress and inconvenience of the situation! On subsequent days, the crew gained on City W1 ahead of them, with Thursday’s racing proving the most thrilling, as Cantabs W2 just managed to get overlap on City W1 by the railway bridge, but were unfortunately unable to secure a bump to secure 2nd on the river. W1 (Senior Women 1) contained a mixture of athletes, from those who had never done Bumps before to someone who was racing for her 5th Headship, and had a difficult task on their hands after minimal preparation time. However, this proved no problem, with the crew racing well each day and able to take the rate down to the mid-20s when on the reach to maintain a strong lead over the chasing crews and retain the Headship held since 2017.

Men’s Divisions

With fewer entries this year compared to last, the Cantabs men had a more difficult time in Town Bumps. Used to racing in Division 4, M11 (Invetereight) found themselves this year in Division 3 among many crews with average ages up to 50 years younger than themselves! Unfortunately this meant that they spooned, being bumped each day despite racing hard. M10 (Hunters) this year ended up being the Hunted, suffering 2 bumps during the week. M9 (Past Masters) had a better week, bumping both Champs M3 and Champs M2, and finishing as sandwich boat for Division 2.

In Division 2, M8 (Poachers) mostly rowed over, but were bumped on day 2. M6 (Aquaphobes) enjoyed two bumps, on Chesterton M2 and City M6, to finish 6th in Division 2 and putting them in good stead for racing at the European Masters Championships the following week. M7 (Junior Squad 2) became familiar with the ‘good crews go +3, lucky crews get blades’ saying, after a river blockage on the Friday saw them denied a bump that would otherwise have had them win blades after bumping City M8, Nines M5 and City M7 earlier in the week.

Men’s Division 1 saw more varied results. M5 (Senior Men 3) were bumped on the first 2 days, before rowing over, and then bumping Rob Roy M2 on the Friday. M4 (Mallory Club) finished level for the week after being bumped once, but then committing a Cantabs-on-Cantabs crime by bumping Cantabs M3 on the final day. M3 unfortunately spooned. M2 (Senior Men 2) rowed over twice and were bumped twice. M1 raced well throughout the week, being bumped just before the finish by City M1, and gaining slightly on Nines M1 ahead of them the rest of the week.