Michaelmas Term 2019
Autumn Head – 12th October
W1 – 1st place
M1 – 4th place
We had both our W1 and M1 race in Autumn Head!
W1 were the fastest of the three W1 crews that entered, beating the next fastest crew by nearly 40 seconds. M1 came 4th out of the 6 boats that were in their category but were only 18.5 seconds off of the winning time! These were some excellent results considering both of these crews had only been training together for the last three days. What a great way to start the new term!
University Fours – 4th to 8th Nov
We managed to field three crews during University Fours, all putting up great results.
Men’s Coxed Fours, (First Division)
M1 – 9th place
M1 were narrowly defeated in the first round of the competition by Lady Margaret M1, (who went on to win the competition!). They still performed excellently and should be proud of their race.
Women’s Coxed Fours, (First Division)
W1 – 3rd place
W1 defeated Queen’s W1 in the first round of the competition, before losing out to Caius W1 in the semi finals. They showed a good showing for the first competition of the year, and setting a strong foundation for the term to come.
Women’s Coxed Fours, (Second Division)
W2 – 3rd place
W2 were beat by Queens’ W2 in the semi finals of the competition, placing them in 3rd place, alongside their W1 companions. A brilliant first race from them!
More information can be found about the race here, as well as a more detailed tree of the results, (M1, W1, W2).
Winter Head – 16th Nov
W1 – Tied for 1st place in their category with Caius and Newnham W1
M1 – 1st place in their category
W2 – 8th place in their category
M2 – 2nd place in their category
Two men’s novice-senior composite crews and one women’s novice-senior composite crew also took part in the race and there was some excellent rowing from everybody!
Thank you to the organisers for a great day of racing!
Emma Sprints Regatta – 24th Nov
We entered four of our novice crews in Emma Sprints! Well done to everyone who took part – there was some great rowing, and some excellent constumes!
Clare Novice Regatta – 28th to 30th Nov
Well done to all of our novice crews that raced in Clare Novices! Congratulations to NW1 for making it through to the semi-final, what an amazing result! It was great to see all the novice rowers really enjoying the races, despite the cold weather 
Good luck to all the crews for Fairbairns!
Fairbairn Cup, (Jesus)
The Fairbairn Cup takes place over two days – the novices row on the Thursday, and the seniors on the Friday.
Novices – 5th Dec
NM1 – 6th place
NW1 – 5th place
NM2 – 36th place, (13th fastest NM2!)
We’re incredibly proud of the performances of our novice crews, top six results for the boats, and a strong performance form the second men’s boat. They all went on to make amazing additions in the senior squads in Lent term.
Seniors – 6th Dec
M1 – 10th place in the VIIIs
W1 – 2nd place in the VIIIs
M2 – 16th place in the IVs, (which included a lot of M1 crews!)
W2 – 10th place in the IVs, (which included a lot of W1 crews!)
Fantastic performance from the women’s crews for achieving second place in the VIIIs category! The men also put up a formidable showing to reach 10th place in the VIIIs category. A brilliant showing from Downing at Fairbairn’s overall!
You can find more information here, as well as the list of the full results. Please also take a look at the gallery of photos of the event.
Lent Term 2020
Winter Head to Head – 25th Jan
W1 – 1st place
M1 – 7th place
W2 – 2nd place
M2 – 5th place
W3 – 9th place
M3 – 10th place
These were some amazing results – well done to everyone who raced! Keep on pushing for bumps!
Newnham Head – 8th Feb
W2 – 2nd in their category, (only 2 seconds away from the crew in first place!)
M2 – 11th in their category,
W3 – 9th in their category, (2nd fastest W3 crew!)
M3 – 16th in their category, (7th fastest M3 crew!)
Well done to everybody who raced – a very promising look for Bumps!
Pembroke Regatta – 15th Feb
Despite the crews looking very strong before the race, excessive wind meant the race had to be called off. It was a shame that the crews couldn’t show how well they were getting on in training, but they were well rested before Bumps!
Lent Bumps – 25th to 29th Feb
We were able to field six crews in Lent Bumps – three men, and three women – and achieved some brilliant results. We are very proud of W1 achieving headship by bumping Jesus W1 on the final day. W2 also must be congratulated for achieving super blades – bumping every day, and twice one day! Well done to everyone that rowed in the week! All the crews had given it their best every day and there were some amazing results!
| Crew | Starting Position | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Ending Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W1 | 4th in First Division | Bumped Emmanuel W1 | Bumped Newnham W1 | Rowed Over | Bumped Jesus W1 | Headship!! |
| M1 | 3rd in First Divsion | Bumped by Pembroke M1 | Bumped Pembroke M1 | Bumped by Pembroke M1 | Bumped by First and Third M1 | 5th in First Division |
| W2 | 3rd in Third Division | Bumped St. Edmund’s W1 | Bumped Lady Margaret W2 and Queens’ W2 | Bumped Clare W2 | Bumped Wolfson W2 | 15th in Second Division Super Blades!! |
| M2 | 16th in Second Division | Bumped by Emmanuel M2 | Bumped by Queens’ M2 | Bumped by Clare M2 | Bumped by Magdalene M2 | 3rd in Third Division |
| W3 | 3rd in Fourth Division | Rowed Over | Rowed Over | Rowed Over | Bumped Anglia Ruskin | 2nd in Fourth Division |
| M3 | 3rd in Fourth Division | Rowed Over | Rowed Over | Bumped Wolfson M2 | Bumped Anglia Ruskin | 1st in Fourth Division |
The full results can be found here for the Men, and here for the Women. Please also check out the gallery of the event, as well as our crew lists for the Men, and the Women. Finally, please watch the Livestream of the W1 bump, (by Stephen Harris) – you can find the streams of the other races on our Facebook page.
Easter Term 2020
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no events went ahead in the Easter Term of 2020. However, there was a virtual race which Downing participated in – Virtual May Bumps
Virtual May Bumps – 24th to 27th June
Unfortunately, the in-person May Bumps had to be cancelled as a result of COVID-19, with the uni teaching being moved online. However, May Bumps was moved to an online format, where, every day, the nine crew members in every boat each ran 800m, and submitted their times to the organisers.
| Crew | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Ending Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | Bumped Lady Margaret M1 | Bumped Magdalene M1 | Rowed Over | Bumped Caius M1 | Headship!! |
| W1 | Bumped Lady Margaret W1 | Bumped Emmanuel W1 | Rowed Over | Bumped by Pembroke W1 | 5th in Division |
A more detailed explanation of the race format and the results can be found in this varsity article. We also have a gallery of photos of our runners here.