Oxford College Rowing

Extract from Chapter I of A History of St Catherine's Rowing 1875-1999

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[Chapter written by Anu Dudhia]

Rule Refinements

Curiously, the practice of making an excursion down to Sandford prior to each evening's racing continued at least until 1839, the crews `amusing themselves with gymnastics or skittles' for an hour or so before collectively paddling back up to Iffley Lock to commence the serious business of the day. Needless to say, the paddle upstream past Kennington was an opportunity for a few practice bursts in an attempt to impress the opposition, and a good deal of banter between the crews. Following problems caused by high winds that same year, bunglines and the present `three gun' system for starting were introduced in 1840, and the start time fixed at 7.45 pm. By then, some 14 colleges were taking part, so it was also decreed that boats involved in a bump should draw to one side so as to allow the lower crews to continue racing. The bump itself was defined `as the touching of any part, whether it be boat, oars, or rudder'.

At this point, the number of days racing was nominally determined by the number of crews entered. The theory was that even the crew starting bottom each year should be allowed a chance of gaining the Headship, although in practice rather fewer days were required as it was common for crews to `take off' (scratch) before the end of the event, thus losing their day. The Eights reached a maximum of 9 days during the 1840's before settling down to a regular 8 days, although it was only in 1858 that these were held on consecutive nights with a day's rest on the Sunday at the mid-way point. There were fewer bumps than usual that year, which led to complaints that the crews had no time to practise and improve between races.

Photo: Eights Week in 1889, view looking downstream from the towpath near the Finish.