The Lent Bumps (also Lent Races, Lents) are a set of

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

races held annually on the

River Cam The River Cam () is the main river flowing through Cambridge in eastern England. After leaving Cambridge, it flows north and east before joining the River Great Ouse to the south of Ely, at Pope's Corner. The total distance from Cambridge to ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. They began in 1887, after separating from the

May Bumps The May Bumps (also May Races, Mays) are a set of rowing races, held annually on the River Cam in Cambridge, England. They began in 1887 after separating from the Lent Bumps, the equivalent bumping races held at the end of February or start of M ...

, which are bumping races held in mid-June. Prior to the separation there had been a single set of annual bumps dating from its inception in 1827.''The Bumps:An Account of the Cambridge University Bumping Races 1827–1999'', John Durack, George Gilbert & Dr John Marks, 2000, The races are open to all college boat clubs from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, the University Medical and Veterinary Schools and Anglia Ruskin Boat Club. The Lent Bumps take place over five days (Tuesday to Saturday) at the end of February / start of March and are run as bumps races. The most recent in the series was the Lent Bumps 2022, held from 1 to 5 March 2022.

Structure

The races are run in divisions, each containing 17 crews. The number of crews in each bottom division varies yearly depending on new entrants. Each crew consists of eight rowers and one

coxswain The coxswain ( , or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the cockboat, a type of ship's boat ...

. Unlike the

, rowers trialling for places in university crews are not allowed to take part in the Lents. A total of 120 crews took part in 2020, totalling around 1080 participants. There are currently four divisions for men's crews (referred to as M1, M2 ... M4) and four divisions for women's crews (similarly W1 to W4). Both M4 and W4 are "short" divisions which marshall together; W4 goes off 5 minutes separated from M4 whereas other divisions are separated by 40 minutes. The divisions represent an overall race order, with Division 1 at the top. The ultimate aim is to try to finish ''Head of the River'' (also said as gaining the 'Headship'), i.e. first position in Division 1. At the start, signalled by a cannon, each crew is separated by a distance of about 1½ boat lengths (approximately 30 m or 90 ft). Once the race has begun, a crew must attempt to catch up with the crew ahead of it and ''bump'' (physically touch or overtake it) before the crew behind does the same to them. A crew which bumps or is bumped must pull to the side of the river to allow other crews to continue racing. A crew which neither bumps the crew ahead nor is bumped by the crew behind before crossing the finishing post is said to have ''rowed over''. Any crew which bumps then swaps places with the crew that it bumped in the following day's racing. A crew which rows over stays in the same position. Crews finishing at the top of a division, the ''sandwich boat'', row at the bottom of the next division to try to move up a division. The process is repeated over four effective days, allowing crews to move up or down in the overall order of boats. The finish order of one year's Lent Bumps is then used as the starting order of the following year's races. Due to the shortness of reliable daylight, the races are actually currently run over five days, with one division level dropped out each day except Saturday: on Tuesday M/W 1, on Wednesday 2, Thursday 3 and Friday 4. Between 2010 and 2019, the leading men's and women's crews of the Lent Bumps went on to race the leading Oxford

Torpids Torpids is one of two series of bumping races, a type of rowing race, held yearly at Oxford University; the other is Eights Week. Over 130 men's and women's crews race for their colleges in six men's divisions and five women's; almost 1,200 pa ...

men's and women's crews at the

Henley Boat Races The Henley Boat Races were a series of annual rowing races between various crews representing the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. The event included the Lightweight Men's Boat Race from 1975 to 2018, the Women's Boat ...

around Easter. However, following the move of

The Lightweight Boat Races The Lightweight Boat Races are a series of annual rowing races between men's and women's lightweight crews representing the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. The first men's race took place in 1975, being joined by the wom ...

to the

Championship Course The Championship Course is a stretch of the River Thames between Mortlake and Putney in London, England. It is a well-established course for rowing races, particularly the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. The course is on the tidal reaches of th ...

, this competition ceased to be held.

Crews finishing Head of the River

Men's Lent Bumps (1887–2022)

Lent Bumps were cancelled from 1915 to 1918 due to war, and in 1895 and 1963 due to ice; in 2018 two days were lost to the towpath being too icy for bank parties and umpires. The Lents in 1888 were not completed due to the death of an oarsman. When the races ceased, were in 1st position. The Lent Bumps 2001 were not completed due to an outbreak of

Foot and Mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, followe ...

in the UK. The outbreak closed the towpath along the river, where all of the umpiring for the bumps takes place. When the races were abandoned on Friday 2 March 2001, were in 1st position. The Lents were also cancelled in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In 1919, college 1st VIIIs did not race as it was the first race after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The start order for the 1920 races was the finish order for the 1914 races. Prior to 1946 were two separate rowing clubs: 1st Trinity and 3rd Trinity, hence both separate and combined titles.http://www.firstandthird.org/ First and Third Trinity Boat Club website

Women's Lent Bumps (1976–2022)

NB. The Lent Bumps were not completed in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

due to an outbreak of

in the UK. When the races were abandoned on Friday 2 March 2001, were in 1st position. The Lents were also cancelled in

due to the

Table of Winning Boats (1887–2022)

Nineteen boats have been head of the river. ''*'' The head of the river in 1919 was, unusually, 1st Trinity’s second boat. It was the first race after

and 1st eights did not race. The start order for the 1920 races was the finish order for the 1914 races. Prior to 1946 were two separate rowing clubs: 1st Trinity and 3rd Trinity, hence both separate and combined titles. Anglia Ruskin, Clare Hall, Darwin, Homerton, Hughes Hall, King's, Lucy Cavendish, Magdalene, Robinson, St. Catharine's, Selwyn, Sidney Sussex, St Edmund's, Wolfson, Addenbrooke's and the Veterinary School are the regular entrants never to have finished Head of the River in either the men's or women's events.

References

External links

CUCBC
— the organisation that runs the bumps
Cambridge bumps charts
— archive of results 1992-2015 {{authority control Recurring sporting events established in 1887 1887 establishments in England Rowing at the University of Cambridge Rowing competitions in the United Kingdom Bumps races February events March events Annual sporting events in the United Kingdom River Cam