Cantabrigian Rowing Club

Cantabrigian Rowing Club
Location	Cambridge
Coordinates	52°21′53″N 0°14′38″E / 52.36472°N 0.24389°E / 52.36472; 0.24389 (Cantabrigian Rowing Club)Coordinates: 52°21′53″N 0°14′38″E / 52.36472°N 0.24389°E / 52.36472; 0.24389 (Cantabrigian Rowing Club)
Home water	River Cam
Founded	1950 (1950)
Affiliations	CRA, British Rowing
Website	www.cantabsrowing.org.uk
Events
Cambridge Winter Head Cambridge Regatta
Distinctions
Current 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 Grosvenor Cup - Henley Women's Regatta 2015

Cantabrigian Rowing Club (/ˌkæntəˈbrɪdʒɪən/), known as Cantabs, is the largest 'town' (or CRA) rowing and sculling club in Cambridge, UK. With more than 400 members, it has one of the largest active rowing memberships in the Eastern region.

History

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 currently one of the fastest on the River Cam,^[2] holding the men's headship in the Town Bumps for six of the last seven years and, in 2017, it also holds the women's headship in this event. 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 club runs the Cambridge Winter Head every November, an event that can attract over a thousand competitors.^[4]

Facilities

The club is based out of its own boat house in Chesterton on the banks of the River Cam. The boat house has a brand new purpose-built indoor training space upstairs, with brand new weights facilities installed in 2016, along with 10 static and 2 dynamic ergs. 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.^[5]

Squads

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^[6][7] and in 2012 qualified two eights for the Thames Challenge Cup, a first for any Cambridge town club.^[8] In addition, there has been substantial individual success, with John Hale winning silver in the lightweight sculls at the 2012 British Rowing Championships^[9] before representing England in the lightweight double at the Home International Regatta^[10] and Charlie Palmer reaching the finals of the Diamond Challenge Sculls in 2005 and 2006.^[11][12]

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^[13] (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 for the past few years, winning the Provincial Pennant when finishing 14th overall in 2017. 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,^[14] setting a new course record in the process.

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.

Town bumps

As of 2017, Cantabs currently holds both the men's and women's headship in the CRA Bumps. The women's 2nd and 3rd eights are the highest ranked 2nd and 3rd eights on the river.

In 2016, Cantabs fielded the most crews of any club in CRA Bumps, reflecting the size of the club. 15 men's and 11 women's crews took part, with the crews bumping up a 'net' of 19 places across the 4 days of racing.

See also

• Cambridgeshire Rowing Association

References

External links

• Official Site
• British Rowing's Cantabrigian RC page
• Cambridgeshire Rowing Association