Torpids: a bumpy ride for some

Reflecting on Oxford’s first big college rowing event

Tom Farmer

New champions as Univ and Christ Church triumph, with bumpy rides for Oriel and Wolfson

Along with sub-fuscs, mortar boards and RadCam essay crises, Hilary Term’s “Torpids” racing are a timeless part of Oxford culture. With the first men’s Torpids event being held in 1838, with the first women’s event in 1977, it is a highlight of inter-college sport calendar. Across six divisions of men’s crews and four divisions of women’s crews, the Isis river and its banks become alive for four days of thrills and spills.

“Bumps” racing was conceived because of Oxford’s narrow rivers, with crews unable to race each other conventionally as you may see in the Olympics, Instead, each crew lines up behind each other and starts at staggered intervals. Boats then attempt to “bump” (or catch up with) the boat in front of them, leading to a uniquely intense contest. With each “bump”, crews can climb up the league tables, striving to the title of “Head of the River”, awarded to the leader of Division 1 at the end of racing.

This year, in the late February frost, the

2023 iteration of this tradition was as intense as ever. Going into the event, the Oriel men’s crew had been “Head of the River” since 2018, adding to their 39 total annual victories. In the women’s competition, Wolfson looked to defend their title for the second year in a row. However, both crews started Torpids badly, with Wolfson being bumped by Univ and Oriel being bumped by Christ Church on Wednesday. After only the first day of racing, there were new leaders in both competitions, with the contest thrown wide open.

As the racing went on, the week got worse for Wolfson’s women. Bumped on all days apart from Saturday, the crew narrowly avoided being awarded “spoons”, given to boats bumped every day of Torpids. Finishing 6th, their three-year reign as champions was over, with Univ successfully protecting their lead for four days. In Div II, LMH forced promotion to the top league, whilst Jesus’ crew dropped down.

In the men’s competition, Oriel too could not regain their title after the early setback. After being bumped again, this time by Wolfson, the crew ended the week in third. Christ Church however were able to stay ahead of Wolfson, claiming their first

Torpids victory in the men’s competition since 2011. New College managed to force their way into Div I, rising four places across the weekend.

As ever, there were a number of notable rises and falls across the four days of racing. Trinity’s M1 (the college’s strongest men’s crew) fell from the bottom of Division 1 to Division 3, before ending Torpids in the lower echelons of Division 2. Trinity’s M3 also dropped 17 places across the weekend, the most of any crew. Oriel’s M2 also fell from mid-Division 3 to the top of Division 4, marking a disappointing year for the most successful Torpids college in history. In the Women’s competition, Lincoln’s W1 rose into Division I from mid-Division II, moving up seven places. Exeter’s W1 also had a good week of racing, rising six places into Division 2. However, as with the men’s contest, what goes up must come down. In fact, Linacre W1 and New W2 both went into 2023 top of Division 3 and 4 respectively, but fell a cumulative 13 places between the two crews. Regent’s WI also dropped a huge 11 places from the heady heights of 5th in Division 4 to 4th in Division 5.

And with the usual ups-and-downs of Torpids, complete with some very sore bodies, the four days of racing were over. With two new colleges holding the titles .of “Head of the River”, it’s all to race for in Trinity with Summer 8s.