Clare Hall Boat Club takes on May Bumps 2026
Clare Hall Boat Club brought determination, resilience, and plenty of energy to this year’s May Bumps, one of Cambridge’s most exciting and much-loved rowing traditions.
ith both the Men’s and Women’s crews taking to the River Cam, the campaign was filled with hard-fought races, memorable moments, and strong support from across the College community. From novice rowers gaining valuable experience to dramatic bumps, fast chases, and cheering crowds along the bank, May Bumps once again showcased the commitment and camaraderie at the heart of Clare Hall rowing.
This year’s races also took place in glorious summer weather, adding to the atmosphere both on and off the river. Whether racing, coaching, coxing, supporting from the towpath, or celebrating together afterwards, the Boat Club represented Clare Hall with great enthusiasm throughout the week.
Please enjoy the full reports from our Men’s and Women’s captains below. Photos courtesy of the CHBC.
Men’s
This year’s May Bumps campaign saw several new faces, but also brought its share of challenges. The O1 crew included four new students who joined Clare Hall in the 2025/26 academic year and took up rowing as novices with us. We are proud that we were able to teach and train these novices to the level required to compete in Bumps. This would not have been possible without the dedication of our coach and the experienced senior rowers who stepped up to help with training.
The Bumps races, however, got the better of us. On Day 1, a rather hectic start and a fast-approaching Magdalene II crew caused panic and rushed movements in the boat, leading us to get caught around First Post Corner. It was a sobering reminder of the intensity and sheer unpredictability of the May Bumps races.
The second day saw a much better start overall, but a very fast Queens’ II crew caught us quickly and bumped us before we had a chance to settle into our rhythm. Rose, our cox, however, produced some of the finest clearing seen in the division, earning significant praise from the Senior Umpire.
Days 3 and 4 followed a similar pattern. We improved our start sequence and settled into a more synchronized rhythm, managing to hold our distance from our chasers initially. However, the greater experience and speed of the crews behind us ultimately prevailed, and we were bumped on both days.
Despite the results, I am immensely proud of the team for fighting through this campaign and putting everything they had into every race. Clare Hall will be back next year, ready to make every crew that bumped us this year look over their shoulder.
– Simeon Hatzopoulos, Men’s Co-Captain
Women’s
May Bumps 2026 brought all the heat! Sun’s out, fans out, W1 had quite the week! We went into the week fast and furious. Day one we came into a close threeway with Lucy Cavendish II and Emmanuel III, however Lucy beat us to the bump and got Emma. We had a bit of a hold up when they bumped, but once the coast was clear we went into race mode and chased Sidney Sussex II to the end of the course.
We entered day two DETERMINED, as much as we love the entire length of the river cam, we wanted a short and speedy race—and that’s exactly what we got. We very quickly bumped Emmanuel III and rocked some beautiful foliage for the rest of the row.
Now for day three there were tables, graphs, number crunching, prediction modelling—a full on operation! We knew it would be a tricky plan (the one we devised) but we had to try it. Churchill II had very quickly bumped Murray Edwards II right in front of us and we shot off for the over bump. Whilst we didn’t manage to catch Sidney Sussex II before they bumped up we executed a personal best 2K.
We all know that the Clare Hall May Event always falls the evening before day three. And while our W1 girlies are all academic weapons and rowing beasts, they also like to have fun. But we clean up fast and well and we got ready for a beautiful last day of May Bumps 2026. The weather: perfect; the goal: bump. Once the pistol went off (missing you cannon) we knew what we had to do. Now what better way to finish off the season than bumping right in front of the plough?! The crowd was electric, the rowing was … well not our best but shh… We hip hip hooray’d Murry Edwards II and took in the cheers from the plough.
– Diana Vrcelj Smiljković, Women’s Captain