Cantabrigian Rowing Club (), known as Cantabs, is a 'town' (or

CRA CRA is an abbreviation for: Companies * Conestoga-Rovers & Associates, a consulting engineering firm in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada * Convenience Retail Asia, Hong Kong * Conzinc Riotinto of Australia * CRA International, a consultancy Credit ...

)

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 a ...

and

sculling Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, its ...

club in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, England.

History

Cantabs was founded in 1950 as a rowing club for the old boys of the

Hills Road Sixth Form College Hills Road Sixth Form College (commonly referred to as HRSFC, Hills Road or just Hills) is a public sector co-educational sixth form college in Cambridge, England, providing full-time A-level courses for approximately 2400 sixth form students f ...

, then the Cambridgeshire High School for Boys.Cantabrigian Rowing Club Home Page
/ref> It first accepted general membership in the 1960s and has been an open club since. The club is affiliated to the

Cambridgeshire Rowing Association The Cambridgeshire Rowing Association (CRA) is based in Cambridge, UK. It is the administrative body for non-college rowing in Cambridge and since 1868 has organised races such as the CRA Bumps as well as looking after the interests of local ro ...

and

British Rowing British Rowing, formerly the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA), is the national governing body for the sport of rowing (both indoor and on-water rowing). It is responsible for the training and selection of individual rowers and crews represent ...

. The club is consistently one of the fastest 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, Cambridgeshire, Ely, at Pope's Corner. The total distanc ...

, holding the men's headship in the annual Town

Bumps A bumps race is a form of rowing race in which a number of boats chase each other in single file, each crew attempting to catch and 'bump' the boat in front without being caught by the boat behind. The form is mainly used in intercollegiate c ...

in 11 years since 2010, and the women's headship since 2017. The Cantabs Women's A crew consistently finish as the fastest Cambridge town club at the

Women's Eights Head of the River Race The Women's Eights Head of the River Race (WEHoRR) is a processional rowing race held annually on the Tideway of the River Thames in London on the Championship Course from Mortlake to Putney. A mirror of the Eights Head of the River for ma ...

, 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. The Cantabs A crew won the Provincial Pennant again in 2022 and 2024. 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.

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 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 Pararowing (or adaptive rowing) is a category of rowing race for those with physical, visual or intellectual disabilities. History In 1913, rowing for individuals with disabilities was initiated by headmaster George Clifford Brown at Worcester ...

for people with disabilities. Financial support for this development includes Olympic legacy funding from Sport England's Inspired Facilities Fund.

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 Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

in the majority of the last decade and in 2012 qualified two eights for the

Thames Challenge Cup The Thames Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's eights at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from a single rowing club A rowing club is a club for people intere ...

, a first for any Cambridge town club. In addition, there has been substantial individual success, with John Hale winning silver in the lightweight sculls at the 2012

British Rowing Championships The British Rowing Championships usually take place every year and are normally held at the National Water Sports Centre, Holme Pierrepont (Nottingham), with occasional championships held at the Strathclyde Country Park Strathclyde Coun ...

before representing England in the lightweight double at the

Home International Regatta The Home International Regatta is a rowing regatta held every year for the countries of the British Isles - England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Events are held for both men and women at junior (under 18) and senior levels, including Para-row ...

and Charlie Palmer reaching the finals of the

Diamond Challenge Sculls The Diamond Challenge Sculls is a Rowing (sport), rowing event for men's single sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. First run in 1844, it is open to male scullers from all eligible rowin ...

in 2005 and 2006. He is currently a biology teacher at Bedford School The Senior Women's Squad races competitively at the major

Tideway The Tideway is the part of the River Thames in England which is subject to tides. This stretch of water is downstream from Teddington Lock. The Tideway comprises the upper Thames Estuary including the Pool of London. Tidal activity Depending ...

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 (this pair went on to represent England at the

). Cantabs have had the fastest Cambridge town first and second eights at the

(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. 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 Henley Women's Regatta, often abbreviated to "HWR" or "Women's Henley", is a rowing regatta held at Henley-on-Thames, England. Chris Aistrop and Rosemary Mayglothling were jointly responsible for setting up the Regatta in June 1988 and Aistrop ...

, setting a new course record in the process. At

, Cantabs have qualified an 8 for The

Wargrave Challenge Cup The Wargrave Challenge Cup is a rowing event for women's eights at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to female crews from all eligible clubs (not university, college or school) and ro ...

each year since its inception. The club has also had success wit
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

The blade colours are dark blue and silver; kit: white, trimmed with blue.''The Umpires' Handbook''
British Rowing, 2020: at p.43.

Town bumps

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

Henley Royal Regatta

British champions

Women's Eights Head of the River Race

Henley Women's Regatta

References

External links

British Rowing's Cantabrigian RC page

Cambridgeshire Rowing Association
{{United Kingdom rowing clubs Cambridge town rowing clubs Sports clubs and teams established in 1950 Rowing clubs in Cambridgeshire Rowing clubs in England Rowing clubs of the River Cam