Lent Bumps: Day 1 Round UP

HENRY CHARRINGTON and JONNY SINGER look back at the First Day of Lent Bumps 2011, and preview tomorrow’s racing.

college rowing lent bumps 2011 Women's rowing

There was no action in M1 or W1 today, but it’s still been a packed day.

Every division had drama, with crashes, near misses and even a re-race. You can see how it unfolded live HERE.

The Big Picture: It was a bad day for Lady Margaret’s men, who fell in two places including an overbump. Sidney were also disappointing, falling in two of their four and narrowly missing a succesful bump in M2, while the big winners were Christ’s, who will compete in M1 tomorrow as the sandwich boat after a late surge in M2. Addenbrooke’s meanwhile suffered the embarrassment of a double division relegation.

The story of the day came in the first race, where a big crash led to a huge delay, and meant that the final race was rowed, dramatically, in near darkness.

Division by division here’s our account of the Tuesday’s progress.

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Men’s Division Two:
1 Christ’s
2 Selwyn
3 St. Catharine’s
4 First and Third II
5 Sidney Sussex
6 Caius II
7 Lady Margaret II
8 Downing II
9 Jesus II
10 Wolfson
11 Homerton
12 Corpus Christi
13 Pembroke II
14 Queens’ II
15 Christ’s II
16 Emmanuel II
17 Darwin
18 St Edmund’s (sandwich boat)

Analysis:
FaT did well to hold off Sidney Sussex, who in turn did well to hold LMBC before they were bumped by a strong Caius crew. Watch out for some serious action there tomorrow. Christ’s will be happy with their move to the sandwich boat position, while Selwyn will be rueing missing out on a chance to play with the M1 division tomorrow.

St Catz will be annoyed not to have bumped Christ’s, with certain members of their crew regularly trialling. They will hope to perform better against Selwyn. Interestingly, FaT II’s hold above Sidney perhaps represents improvement in the club as a whole. FaT M1 will certainly hope so as they aim to retain headship tomorrow afternoon.

Predictions:
A strong Caius boat look set to continue their form, and will be looking to bump Sidney Sussex early on tomorrow. Pembroke II to take Corpus Christi, will St Edmund’s will hope to make their move to M2 more permanent by bumping Darwin. Jesus looked to struggle with Wolfson behind them: Wolfson will hope to turn this into a bump in the morning.

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Men’s Division 3:
1 St. Edmund’s
2 Anglia Ruskin
3 First and Third III
4 Selwyn II
5 Peterhouse II (overbump from 8th)
6 Magdalene II
7 Churchill II
8 Robinson II (down from 5th)

9 Clare II
10 Jesus III
11 King’s II (overbump from 14th)
12 Trinity Hall II

13 Fitzwilliam II
14 Lady Margaret III (down from 11th)

15 St. Catharine’s II
16 Girton II
17 Caius III
18 Addenbrooke’s (down to M4)

Analysis:
With 2 overbumps in this division there was certainly enough action for even the least boatie people. Robinson and LMBC will be disappointed with their performance.  Although there is often a tendency for crews to lighten off a bit when there is no one chasing, as proven it allows crews far behind to rapidly gain ground and make the overbump. Elsewhere, Magdalene were quick to bump Churchill, while Caius did well to cement their position in the M3 division.

Predictions:
Following their successful overbumps, Kings II will look to take down Jesus II quickly, while Peterhouse II will aim to catch Selwyn before the rapid looking Magdalene get them. Clare II looked sharp, and will hope to catch the falling Robinson II, while St Catz II will hope to do a similar thing to LMBC III.

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Men’s Division 4:
1 Caius III
2 Hughes Hall II
3 First and Third IV
4 Wolfson II
5 Queens
6 Sidney Susex II
7 Emma III
8 Clare hall
9 Christs III
10 Homerton II
11 Pembroke III
12 Downing III
13 Queens IV
14 Trinity Hall III
15 Jesus IV
16 Catz III
17 Hughes Hall II
18 Magdalene

Analysis:
This event is mostly populated by novices, who will have only rowed for a term and a half, as such, we were guaranteed some entertainment outside the simple bump. Within minutes this was the case. Following a slightly delayed start, Hughes Hall bumped FaT, but then failed to clear the river in good time.  A charging Wolfson crew had no choice but to enter the fray and soon found themselves tangled up in the mess near First Post corner.  A division full of novices were soon heaped together in a massive pile up and a division re-row was requested, which threw up few surprises.

Predictions:
Hughes Hall will aim to bump the Addenbrokes crew that fell from M3. Tit Hall III will hope to replicate their success against Jesus IV with a bump on Queens’ IV. Pembroke III looked strong, and will be confident of moving up on Homerton tomorrow.

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Women’s Division 2:
1 Selwyn – pulled away from girton
2 Girton
3 Lady Margaret II
4 Emmanuel II
5 Sidney Sussex
6 Murray Edwards
7 Jesus II
8 Robinson
9 Fitzwilliam
10 Corpus Christi
11 Homerton
12 Pembroke II
13 Hughes Hall/Lucy Cav.
14 Anglia Ruskin
15 First and Third II
16 Caius II
17 St Edmund’s
18. Addenbrooke’s (bumped down a division)

Analysis:
Selwyn looked untouchable at the top of the division, easily pulling away from a Girton crew that failed to ever really get away from LMBC II.  In turn LMBC II will take confidence from holding off Emma (despite their bow being inches from LMBC’s stern) for the whole distance. Further down the division, Robinson and Murray Edwards both looked assured in their bumps. Addenbrokes replicated their men’s performance, falling a division.

Predictions:
The top of this division will be extremely interesting, with Girton, LMBC, Emma and Sidney Sussex looking very close indeed. Selwyn will hope to make an impact on W1 tomorrow and stay up a division. Robinson to bump Jesus II, while Pembroke II will look to bump Homerton before the Hughes Hall/Lady Cavendish combo get close.

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Women’s Division 3:
1 St Edmund’s (will be replaced by Addenbrooke’s tomorrow)
2 Clare II
3 Darwin
4 Newnham II (up from 7)
5 Christ’s II
6 Wolfson
7 Queens’ II (down’ from 4)
8 Downing II
9 Sidney II
10 Selwyn
11 Clare Hall
12 Newnham III
13 Trinity Hall II
14 Peterhouse
15Hughes Hall/Lucy Cavendish
16 Murray Edwards II
17 Girton II
18 Fitz II

Analysis:
Again, a division with little rowing experience in, but with the potential for some interesting clashes. The Newnham overbump on Queens’ will certainly give confidence to Newnham W1 as they prepare for tomorrow. Tit Hall II bumped Peterhouse quickly, and will hope that they can ruin Newnham’s parade by bumping their W3. Murray Edwards also managed to break their boat that made an unideal afternoon for the 4 who had to row it home.

Predictions:

Hughes Hall/Lucy Cavendish to bump Peterhouse, while Newnham continue their success by bumping Darwin. Clare II will hope to return to the top of the division by bumping Addenbrokes, who fall from the W2 division. Downing look good to bump Queens’.

A good day’s racing for all involved with plenty of bumps to keep the message boards happy. The main focus will, however, be on the M1 and W1 divisions, as both headships look set to change.

The Tab will be there, once again, with our live coverage.