St Catharine's College Boat Club

After a not totally unexpected bump from Queens’ on Wednesday we were ready for a tough rowover ahead of a record breaking Darwin crew. The marshalling proved much less dull than Wednesday, with no M3 division to rerow and Darwin dunking their cox in the river for good luck. The race followed a similar pattern to the day before with a solid start. Darwin’s cox dunking evidently brought them some free speed as they then steadily advanced to catch us at almost exactly the same point as Queens’. Charlie even chose to park us in the same bush, this time accompanied by the dry heaves of Amelia Syruphands. We gave it everything and left it all on the river to try to avoid sandwich boating. This was clearly noticed by one spectator who later submitted a Rowbridge in honour of our “desperation screams”. On the row home we received many a compliment on our hats, which lifted our spirits as we prepared for the possibility of two races the next day.

FTW!

Despite the gloomy skies, W1 started Friday feeling determined. We were a little concerned by the presence of a traitor in the bank party of Homerton (we’re looking at you Will!), but with Rosie bringing fresh legs to the boat we were feeling optimistic. Given the weather conditions we felt it was practical to wear the hats forwards – a decision we would later come to regret! Seeing W2 in their foliage brought a welcome boost to an otherwise soggy marshalling session. We rowed down to our station at the head of division 2 with waves sloshing in the boat. After a scramble to remove our many layers of waterproofs we were ready for another fight. Will’s coaching had obviously paid off, as Homerton made steady gains on us up The Gut. Despite our best efforts, some classic Charlie coxing calls (“Jo, your blade *is* ok!”) and Brie’s impressive grunts, they managed to make contact just after Grassy corner. We will be back tomorrow with a strong game plan – a solid bank party, possibly a quick pre-race dip for Charlie (she may not be keen, but it worked for Darwin!) and hats returned to their correct orientation.

FTW!

It was a really big day, first day of Lents 2020. We have been training hard all term for this, all the early mornings and evening erg sessions were finally going show themselves as pure power on the river. The previous year had been a strong one, and we would have to fight hard to hold our position. Christ’s were behind us with an unearned cocky attitude, but with First and Third in front of us it looked like we were in for a potentially long and painful chase. As nervousness set in with the one minute cannon, we got a well-practised push off from the bank and set ourselves up in front stops. With the final cannon blast we went into the starting sequence, putting all our power through the blades. With adrenaline rushing through my head, I couldn’t tell if I was rowing well, what our rate was, or even if I was pushing hard. Minutes passed in a single moment, in a state between pain and euphoria. We got cheered on by FaT from the side of the river, giving us fuel to keep Christ’s away from us, FaT had evidently bumped Jesus, thus confirming our targets for the next day. We were determined not to let Christ’s bump us, and seeing them get bumped behind us was extremely satisfying, especially as it looked like they blocked the river behind us as they were going in to the side, although it was hard to tell for sure because we were speeding away from them at high velocity and soon were invisible to the unaided eye. With no more crews fit to challenge us on the river, we confidently rowed through to the end posts. I felt like I was flying.

- Gustavs Mežciems

Yet again Lent Bumps is upon us, starting on Tuesday 25th February. 4 Catz crews are competing: M1 and W1 in their 1st divisions, with M2 and W2 in their 3rd divisions. The table will be filled in as results (and hopefully reports) come in.

Hover over a result to see if a race report is available. Click on the crew name to see its members.

For information on where to watch the bumps from see here. Division times are here.
Follow the action on the radio at http://bumps.camfm.co.uk/ and see official results here. 
For a map, see here. Join the tow-path at the pink marker, and follow it to the North-East.
Grassy corner (the second big corner, the large right-hand bend) is a particularly popular spectator spot.