18 June 2019
By Tim Koch
Tim Koch looks at some ups and some downs from the Cam.
Readers with good and/or long memories will recall that exactly one year ago, I wrote:
They may not care to admit it, but the old rivals that are the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge have more that unites them than divides them. Notably, on the rowing front, both have two sets of intra-university ‘bumping races’ for eights every year, one in early spring and one in early summer, each lasting four days. At Cambridge, these are called ‘Lents’ and ‘Mays’ respectively, while at Oxford they are known as ‘Torpids’ and ‘Summer Eights’ or ‘Eights Week’.
Last week, I reported from Oxford’s Eights Week and this week I would have liked to post a piece on a visit to the Cambridge Mays, which ran from 12 to 15 June. Sadly, I was not able to observe Fenland’s finest in person and have had to resort to a virtual visit via the Internet. First, those who are uncertain about how this remarkable form of boat racing works should read my 2018 Mays report on HTBS.
The Caius Men’s First VIII made an impressive climb from fourth place to the top of the table i.e. Head of the River, displacing Lady Margaret (the boat club of St John’s College). Lady Margaret can take some solace from the fact that they are the only college with two boats in Men’s Division I, with their second boat bumping every day and thus gaining ‘blades’. Trinity Hall I should also be happy, moving up five places and into Division I. Clare M1 and Clare M3 had a disastrous week, suffering bumps and over bumps and dropping six places. The full men’s and women’s results are here.
The Newnham Women’s First VIII bumped Jesus on the second day are rowed over for the other two, thus taking the Headship. Pembroke bumped every day, rose from 11th to 7th place and gained ‘blades’. Clare W1 and W4 continued the bad week for the club, getting ‘spoons’ for taking a bump every day. Girton joined them in the unwelcome cutlery department. Like their men, the Trinity Hall women made it out of lowly Division II and into glamorous Division I.
The cap is Selwyn, but I’m not sure about the blazer, it looks like Lady Margaret – but with brown trim?
Hear The Boat Sing 
I think the boatman’s pink and brown blazer is Churchill (King’s, Churchill and Selwyn share a boathouse and a boatman).
In terms of the fates of the Catz 1914 Mays crew, I don’t know if the honours board in their boathouse goes far enough back to have their names- Catz moved into the former Third Trinity boathouse in 1958.
Finally, as an Emmanuel man, I have to congratulate this year’s crew on being responsible for that “but one” in the Peterhouse caption…