Cantabrigian Rowing Club (/ˌkæntəˈbrɪdʒiən/), known as Cantabs, is a 'town' (or CRA) rowing and sculling club in Cambridge, UK.
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| Location | Cambridge |
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| Coordinates | 52°21′53″N 0°14′38″E / 52.36472°N 0.24389°E |
| Home water | River Cam |
| Founded | 1950 |
| Affiliations | British Rowing boat code CAB CRA |
| Website | cantabsrowing |
| Events | |
| Cambridge Winter Head | |
| Distinctions | |
| Current or Former Town Bumps Men's and Women's Headship Invesco Perpetual Challenge Cup - Henley Women's Regatta 2017 Provincial Pennant - Women's Eights Head of the River Race 2017, 2022 and 2024 Grosvenor Cup - Henley Women's Regatta 2015 | |
History edit
Cantabs was founded in 1950 as a rowing club for the old boys of the Hills Road Sixth Form College, then the Cambridgeshire High School for Boys.[1] It first accepted general membership in the 1960s and has been an open club since. The club is affiliated to the Cambridgeshire Rowing Association and British Rowing.
The club is consistently one of the fastest on the River Cam, holding the men's headship in the annual Town Bumps in 11 years since 2010, and the women's headship since 2017.[2] The Cantabs Women's A crew consistently finish as the fastest Cambridge town club at the Women's Eights Head of the River Race, and finished 14th overall in 2017, winning the Provincial Pennant. Cantabs' B, C, D and E crews at WEHoRR were also faster than their counterparts from other Cambridge town clubs, and finished as the fastest B, C, D and E crews in the Provincial event.[3] The Cantabs A crew won the Provincial Pennant again in 2022 and 2024.[4]
The club runs the Cambridge Winter Head every November, an event that regularly attracts over seventeen hundred competitors, and is the largest one-day event on the Cam.[5]
Facilities edit
The club is based out of its own boat house in Chesterton on the banks of the River Cam. The boat house has a purpose-built indoor training space upstairs, with weights facilities installed in 2016, along with static and dynamic ergs, BikeErgs and a SkiErg. Rack space for boats ranging from single sculls to eights is located both downstairs and outside. The club also makes use of the CRA boat house and Fitzwilliam College boat house in Cambridge, primarily for Cantabs' large and vibrant junior squad and for adaptive rowing for people with disabilities.
Financial support for this development includes Olympic legacy funding from Sport England's Inspired Facilities Fund.[6]
Squads edit
The club is open to rowers, scullers and coxes of all ages, from the junior level up to masters level. Cantabs runs a number of different men's, women's and junior squads which cater for the social rower to those who wish to train and race competitively at a high level. There are a number of different squads which mean that different commitment levels and aspirations can be catered for.
The Senior Men's Squad has qualified at least one boat for Henley Royal Regatta in the majority of the last decade[7][8] and in 2012 qualified two eights for the Thames Challenge Cup, a first for any Cambridge town club.[9] In addition, there has been substantial individual success, with John Hale winning silver in the lightweight sculls at the 2012 British Rowing Championships[10] before representing England in the lightweight double at the Home International Regatta[11] and Charlie Palmer reaching the finals of the Diamond Challenge Sculls in 2005 and 2006. He is currently a biology teacher at Bedford School[12][13]
The Senior Women's Squad races competitively at the major Tideway heads, as well as local and national regattas and, in 2015, two crews raced at Ghent International Regatta, with the women's pair winning their event[14] (this pair went on to represent England at the Home International Regatta). Cantabs have had the fastest Cambridge town first and second eights at the Women's Eights Head of the River Race (WEHoRR) for the past few years, winning the Provincial Pennant when finishing 14th overall in 2017. Since the 2017 win the Cantabs Women's A crew has consistently placed in the top three Provincial Club crews every time that WEHoRR has run, including pennant wins in 2022 and 2024.[4] In 2016, the senior squad won gold at the British Rowing Masters Championships in the women's A1x and C4-, won W.MasC.4+ at the Veteran Fours Head of the River, and won the IM1 pairs event at Pairs Head, where they were also the 2nd fastest W2- overall. In 2017, Cantabrigian won the Club 8+ event at Henley Women's Regatta,[15] setting a new course record in the process. At Henley Royal Regatta, Cantabs have qualified an 8 for The Wargrave Challenge Cup each year since its inception.[16]
The club has also had success with adaptive/para rowing, with Claire Connon winning the para event at Henley Women's Regatta in 2015, and representing England at the Home International Regatta on two occasions.
Club colours edit
The blade colours are dark blue and silver; kit: white, trimmed with blue.[17]
Town bumps edit
Cantabs has held the Women's headship in the CRA Bumps since 2017 and the Men's Headship in 11 years since 2010. The other women's crews all hold higher positions than their equivalent crews from other clubs.
Since 2015, Cantabs has frequently entered the largest number of crews of any club in the CRA Bumps, reflecting the size of the club. In 2018, 16 men's and 11 women's crews took part, comprising 25% of the overall entry, with crews bumping up a 'net' of 35 places in addition to retaining the two Headships.
Honours edit
Henley Royal Regatta edit
| Year | Event won |
|---|---|
| 1984 | Thames Challenge Cup |
British champions edit
| Year | Winning crew/s |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Open 1x[18] |
Women's Eights Head of the River Race edit
| Year | Event won |
|---|---|
| 2017 | Provincial Club Pennant |
| 2022 | Provincial Club Pennant |
| 2024 | Provincial Club Pennant |
Henley Women's Regatta edit
| Year | Event Won |
|---|---|
| 2015 | The Grosvenor Cup (Para-Rowing Single Sculls) |
| 2017 | The Invesco Perpetual Challenge Cup (Club Eights) |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Cantabrigian Rowing Club Home Page
- ^ "Historic Results". www.crarowing.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Cambridge University women and Cantabrigian RC enjoy record day on the Tideway". 14 March 2017.
- ^ a b "Results | Women's Eights Head of the River Race". Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Cantabs are the winter wonders". Cambridge News. 22 November 2011. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
- ^ "Sporting legacy boost for Cantabrigian Rowing Club". Sport England. 10 April 2012. Archived from the original on 16 August 2012.
- ^ Kidd, Patrick (3 July 2009). "Cambridge suffer disastrous time at Henley Royal Regatta". The Times.
- ^ http://www.hrr.co.uk/results/live/ Archived 2012-09-05 at the Wayback Machine Henley Royal Regatta Results
- ^ "Henley first for Cantabs". Cambridge News. 25 June 2012. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
- ^ "British Rowing Championships - Home and Welcome page". Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2012. British Rowing Championships
- ^ "Runners-up spots for Hope and Morgan at British Championships". Henley Standard. 30 July 2012. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
- ^ "Coventry and Palmer shine at Henley". Cambridge News. 1 July 2005.
- ^ Quarrell, Rachel (3 July 2005). "Goldie steal the show in thriller". Daily Telegraph.
- ^ ":: KRSG | Koninklijke roeivereniging Sport Gent V.Z.W. :: - Information in English". Archived from the original on 17 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
- ^ "Timetable & Results - Henley Womens Regatta". Henley Women's Regatta. Archived from the original on 17 June 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
- ^ "Results". Henley Royal Regatta. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ The Umpires' Handbook British Rowing, 2020: at p.43.
- ^ ""Nautilus cruise." Times, 18 July 2005, p. 53". The Times. 18 July 2005. p. 53.