As Summer Eights approaches, excitement is building in college boathouses up and down the Isis. However, for those who are not lucky enough to be friends with rowers, the vast expanse of jargon can be rather confusing terrain. Never fear! Cherwell is here to explain…
Summer Eights was first held a few weeks before the battle of Waterloo, in 1815, and is now held in 5th week of every Trinity term. Beginning on Wednesday and ending on Saturday, boats line up in divisions of twelve, starting 130 feet apart, tethered to the bank until the final seconds by a 50-foot rope known as a bungline. Once the starting gun goes off, the aim of the race is to bump the boat in front, either by making physical contact, or by forcing the cox of the boat to concede to avert an imminent crash. Once a bump has occurred, the two boats involved are out of the race, and the next day the bumped boat will start below the boat that bumped it. If a bump occurs ahead of a boat, then this means that only by catching the boat which began the race three boats ahead can a bump be obtained – this type of bump is called an overbump. In this scenario, the boat which achieved the bump moves up three places and the bumped boat moves down three places.
The starting order in the top four divisions is determined by the final results of the previous year’s racing. However, for the bottom three divisions, there is a qualifying ‘rowing on’ race in which the top 37 boats on the men’s and women’s sides get to compete. ‘Rowing on’ is held on the Saturday of 4th week, and this year saw a very competitive field. Whilst last year saw only one women’s crew and two men’s crews fail to qualify, this year five women’s crews and 21 men’s crews were told they wouldn’t be racing. In the bottom three divisions, the starting order is a randomised list of the 37 qualifying crews. As a result, those with very strong ‘rowing on’ times can begin below those with much weaker performances. This leaves some very strong boats in low starting positions for the first day of racing. One to watch on the men’s side are Balliol College M4 with their remarkable rowing on time of two minutes and thirty-three seconds, which was a full 32 seconds faster than Balliol M3’s time of 3.05. Balliol M4 will be starting in the lowest division of Summer Eights which will be racing at 12:45 on Wednesday. On the women’s side, Wadham College W3 qualified fourth in rowing on with an impressive time of three minutes and seventeen seconds, and will also be starting in the lowest ‘rowing on’ division, starting at 12.15.
At the top of the river, the battle for the headship is shaping up to be a close contest. In the women’s Division I, Christ Church College currently hold the headship with Wadham, University College, and Pembroke College giving chase. The men’s division one is led by Oriel College, with Christ Church, Keble College, and Wolfson College close behind. For the crew that is Head of the River on Saturday, the reward for their early starts and endless ergs will be the honour of processing through Oxford carrying an old wooden boat which they will ceremonially burn in their front quad.
Racing starts on Wednesday 28th May and ends on Saturday 31st May, with races starting every half hour from 12.15 to 18.45 and all races starting one hour earlier on Saturday. Get ready for a great week of bumps racing and a weekend of parties once the boat club drinking bans lift on Saturday!
Watch out for our page where we’ll bring you the latest, updating with the live results as they come through.
