The Battle Of The Cam Commences

Sunshine blessed the beginning of this year’s rowing season, as colleges took the water in the Autumn Head.

The competition yielded the first results of the year: predictably, the University women’s and lightweight men’s crews finished comfortably ahead of the respective College crews, with the two CULRC eights finishing second and third overall. The overall win went to a crew of alumni from various colleges as well as from CULRC.

But the real highlight of the day was an oar coming apart in one of the CUWBC crews, as documented by the race photographer.

CUWBC rowing forced into emergency action as oar comes apart

Of more immediate relevance to the University Fours, beginning next Monday, is the win of the Downing first and second fours, who finished a comfortable 15 and nine seconds ahead of runners-up Lady Margaret and Clare, respectively. Caius performed less impressively, finishing over 30 seconds behind the top 3, although it is unclear whether these fours represent the top four oarsmen currently available to each club. Behind Downing and LMBC, fours from Magdalene, Peterhouse, Jesus and King’s finished in close proximity to each other.

Coxless fours from LMBC and Downing also entered and finished within seven seconds of each other – this event has been undersubscribed in the Uni Fours for the last few years, but remains nominally as the top event.

Cynics might argue that the win in this category is overwhelmingly determined by steering errors as the bowman has to steer the boat using a lever attached to his shoe while looking over his shoulder to check his course – and the Cam is a notoriously tricky river to steer.

In the eights’ category, Queens’ finished 11 seconds ahead of Selwyn in a respectable time about 20 seconds behind the CULRC eights, although this result is not particularly indicative as most top Colleges chose not to enter eights.

The ladies from Downing walked away with the title for women’s fours – their time was beaten by a Pembroke crew, but this is likely to be alumni. If the Autumn Head entry is representative of who will race in Uni Fours, there may not be a whole lot of competition for Downing as fours from Clare and Jesus finished nearly half a minute behind. The fastest women’s College eight was that from Jesus which, incidentally, recorded a time nearly a minute slower than the fastest CUWBC crew.

Jesus were the fastest womans’ eight – can they keep the pace up?

The Autumn Head did not provide any overly surprising results, although Caius men may be slower than many expected. It remains to be seen whether they can get enough speed by Fairbairns to beat a quick-looking Downing and respectable Queens’. Similarly, the women’s competition seems somewhat more open this year compared to last year, and no clear dominating force has become apparent as yet.

But the results have already set the rowing messageboards ablaze with wild speculation not just for the term, but for the entire year. Rowing looks set for another competitive season.

Photos courtesy of City of Cambridge Rowing Club.