09:44 – I’m locked in at the OSPL office, eagerly awaiting four days of scintillating Summer Eights. The atmosphere at the river is absolutely electric. I don’t think anyone’s even there yet but that doesn’t matter.
12:10 – 5 minute gun goes off for Women’s Division VII, headed by St Anne’s College W2.
12:29 – Big movement in the first race of the day! Jesus W3 bump Keble W3, unfortunate for the latter who were close to bumping themselves. Wadham W3 were next to bump, taking down Exeter, before Somerville bump Reuben College. St John’s W3 also managed a bump on Queen’s W3. Throughout the race, from Long Bridge to the very end, Anne’s and Worcester were locked in a dog-fight, Worcester W3 at one point having a quarter length on Anne’s. The crew that started the race from the lead held strong through, and rowed over to become the sandwich boat for the Division VI race at 13:15. Next up is Men’s Division VI, headed by Hertford.
12:40 – 5 minute gun for Men’s Division VII. Comment from St Anne’s cox Ben O’Donnell: ‘Whole crew leaning out and pushing off.’
13:08 – Plenty of movement in the Men’s Division VII too. The Klaxon sounded due to a swan impeding the racing line in the gut, meaning Pembroke were unable to catch Hertford (who had a large gap behind them at the Long Bridge) at the headship after St Anthony’s O2 bumped Worcester O3. Wadham bumped St John’s, Balliol bumped Queen’s and St Hilda’s bumped Queen’s to get out of 85th [overall] place.
13:49 – After Pembroke catch a nasty crab, Anne’s bump to move into Division VI for tomorrow. St Catherine’s bump Anthony’s to move up towards the top, while Exeter bump Mansfield to become the sandwich boat for the Division V race at 14:15.
14:17 – HUGEEE DRAMA in Men’s Division VI. Green Templeton row over at the head to become the sandwich boat for Division V, but in Balliol’s effort to catch second-placed Linacre, they impale a houseboat. After John’s had already bumped New, Hilda’s bumped Univ, and Mansfield bumped Oriel, it means that Teddy jump all the way from third-last to third-placed in the Division for tomorrow, that’s just the third triple overbump ever. Unfortunately for Hertford, none of that drama meant that they could bump. As a result, they’ll have to do it all over again tomorrow.
14:43 – Hertford the only crew to row over in Women’s Division V. After a long chase by Jesus that brought them almost all the way to the end, Hertford were saved by a Reuben crew that send a heartbroken Jesus tumbling back six places. The other bumps from the race were as follows: Teddy bumped Hugh’s to move to third in the Division, New bumped Regent’s right behind them (both of these bumps occurred to allow Reuben their monumental overbump). Somerville bumped Balliol, Merton bumped St Peter’s, and Exeter claimed their second scalp of the day, bumping Queen’s to jump up a Division ahead of tomorrow.
15:16 – Men’s Division V sees a return to normality after the impaling incident. Merton row over to take on the sandwich boat role for Division IV, while Reuben bump Exeter and Queen’s bump Jesus. Univ bumped New near the bottom of the Division, but representatives from both colleges have been called to the marshalls for a review…
15:53 – In Women’s Division IV, in a slightly bizarre turn of events, only one boat (Christ Church at the head) rowed over, but there were no overbumps as Oriel bumped Magdalen, Wadham bumped Linacre, Green Templeton bumped Lincoln thanks to some smart coxing near the end, and Worcester bumped Brasenose in a similarly thrilling at-the-death affair. To round out the division, Keble bumped John’s to begin their ascent up the ranks, and Hertford bumped Wolfson to start tomorrow in front of the sandwich boat.
16:13 – St Anne’s M1 comfortably row over in Men’s Division IV, and will be chasing Somerville in the Men’s Division III later, while St Cross consolidate their position in the Division by bumping Catz M2. It was one of the less eventful races of the day so far, as the other bumps included St Peter’s bumping Magdalen M2, Brasenose M2 bumping Teddy M2, and St Hilda’s bumping Keble M2.
16:38 – Very few bumps in Women’s Division III. Just Queen’s overtaking Worcester near the top of the Division, and Univ bumping Corpus Christi near the bottom. So Christ Church will have to have another go at moving up tomorrow, while Somerville will get their chance at chasing Trinity in Division II at 17:15.
17:00 – St Anne’s M1 manage to bump Somerville M1 fairly early on to move themselves up to Division III, earning themselves a later start tomorrow. Meanwhile at the front, Exeter M1 powered through at the head, comfortably securing the sandwich boat spot, where they’ll be chasing Brasenose. Meanwhile, Wolfson bumped Corpus, and Univ bumped Linacre.
17:42 – Plenty of movement in Women’s Division II, yet just like Women’s Division IV, none of which comes in the form of overbumps. New concede to Lincoln at the head of the race, so the latter will have the opportunity to elevate themselves to Women’s Division I at 18:15, and Jesus will be their target. Hertford ended up pretty lonely in the race, being the only team to row over. Somerville bumped Trinity to move up, while Merton bumped Catz, Linacre bumped Exeter, Green Templeton bumped Anne’s, and Lady Margaret Hall bumped Mansfield.
17:53 – Men’s Division II starts off with a bang as LMH, Jesus and Merton all jostle near the lead. Merton began to overlap on Jesus, but all the while Jesus had managed to gain a quarter length on LMH. In the end, Jesus are forced to concede, leaving LMH to row through to sandwich position. Lower down in the rankings, St. Hugh’s manage to bump Catz, and Worcester bump Lincoln. Exeter also pull off the bump on Brasenose, sending the latter down to Division III for tomorrow.
18:20 – WADHAM TAKE THE HEADSHIP IN WOMEN’S DIVISION I
18:33 – For the third time today, only one boat has rowed over in a Women’s Division. This time round that was Balliol, who hold on to seventh position. Pembroke bump Univ to move up to third, while Wolfson bumped Teddy to swap sixth for fifth. Behind Balliol, Keble bumped Oriel, Magdalen bumped John’s and Lincoln bumped Jesus in the battle for Turl Street, which means that the former will start racing tomorrow in Division I. Lots of the bumps allegedly occurred as a result of Christ Church, who stopped in the middle of the river after being bumped by Wadham. By congesting the river, the gaps between the crews narrowed dramatically.
18:44 – One minute gun goes off for the last race of the day: Men’s Division I.
18:52 – Oriel retain Men’s Headship.
19:03 – It was a much more subdued affair in the Men’s Division I, as Oriel rowed over comfortably, easing off in the final stretch with no competition even close to pressing them (having a few Olympians might help with that). There were plenty other extended chases however, as New reeled Teddy in until the bump was inevitable, and Wadham eventually conceded to Trinity after some considerable pursuit. Elsewhere in the race, Wolfson bumped Keble to move up into third in the Headship, and LMH failed to convert their opportunity to move up, and will head back to the top of Division II tomorrow. That wraps up today’s racing, which has been filled with some manic races, drastic crashes, and the eventual changing hands of the Headship on one side. With three days still left though, there’s a lot of rowing still to be done…
