Torpids 2004
This Wednesday the second major inter-collegiate rowing event of the year (the first being the novice-only Christ Church Regatta) begins. As Hilary term's 'bumps' event, Torpids has a reputation for not fulfilling the boat-crashing chaos that it so often promises. This is not due to any lack of standard or ability, despite the fact that the current university level rowers are not allowed to row for their colleges in Torpids. However it is down to a cruel tendency of the weather to get in the way. In the last 15 years river conditions have dictated that Torpids has only run in its full 4 day 11 division glory five times.
For anybody new to the whole 'bumps' way of racing, the key is in the name. Boats (costing in some cases as much as £25-30,000) are set off in divisions of 13 to race up the Isis with the single aim of physically hitting the boat in front, and avoiding the boat behind. In summer Eights, both the boat that has done the bumping and the boat that has been bumped drop out of the racing and will swap their place in the division the following day. In Torpids there is the added fun of the possibility that a crew could be bumped down a number of times in one day - only the boats that have managed to bump up drop out of the racing. The crew that is top of division one of each the men's and women's competition is said to be head of the river - hence the name of the pub which sits next to Folly Bridge.
Last year saw an eventful first 3 days, before the final day was cancelled due to the deteriorating river conditions. In the Men's competition the big shock was Pembroke not bumping Oriel to go head of the river, no thanks to a broken rudder string that left them lodged in a tree off the start on the first day. The result saw them getting bumped down by the whole division and starting day 2 at the top of the second division. In the women's competition there was a change at the top as Merton bumped St Catz to take the headship.
This year promises to be of a high standard thanks to the full running of Christ Church Regatta. As a result of the first term being surprisingly uninterrupted for coaching novices, the number of entries to qualification was greatly up on last year, and the general standard on the river has been better than normal. In Men's division one expect to see the continuation of Pembroke's recovery following last year's disaster, as well as the highly rated Magdalen crew within touching distance of Oriel and the coveted headship. Similarly in Women's division one there can be a lot of bumping anticipated, particularly by the much-fancied New crew who start at fourth on the river.
3rd Apr 2004