Another not so successful day for Churchill, but W2 did brilliantly to get the first Churchill bump for a year! They did it all in about 30 seconds as well. Let's hope the rest of us get encouraged to do the same!

M1: Bumped by Magdalene soon after Ditton Corner.

W1: Bumped by Christ's on the way into Grassy Corner.

M2: Bumped by Selwyn II halfway up the Reach.

W2: BUMPED Sidney Sussex III before they even got to the corner by Baitsbite.

M3: Bumped by Magdalene III soon after the Motorway Bridge.

To cheer us up after that, here's a photo of the most successful Churchill crew for a year after their bump:

Finally, after long weeks of waiting the Lent Bumps are upon us! This year we have five crews racing, all looking to improve on last years results. The first men's and women's divisions don't race on the first day, but here's how our other boats did:

M2: Got bumped by Queen's M2 on Plough Reach. A good start, but too tight a line around the first corner (near Baitsbite) upset our rhythm. We got it back together well and held off Queens for a long time - just not long enough.

M3: Bumped by Christ's M3 on First Post Reach.

W2: Got a technical row over after the two boats in front of them bumped quickly and failed to clear in time.

Yesterday was the Lent Bumps Getting on Race, which is a head race held over a 2km course from the Little Bridge to just before the Railway Bridge. Crews who do well in this race qualify for the Lent Bumps, and this year Churchill M3 and W2 both rowed brilliantly and succeeded in "getting on". More detailed results can be found on the CUCBC website.

Darwin M2 also had an interesting race, with their number 7 catching the coveted "ejector crab". They have kindly posted a video of it on Youtube for our entertainment.

Over the last few days the melting snow and patchy rain have driven the level of the Cam up and up. It's not high enough to trouble the nearby houses, but the flooded banks and strong current have led to an almost constant red flag - putting a serious dent in everyone's Lent Bumps preparations. These photos are of the Churchill boathouse on Tuesday, and the river has since risen into some of the bays themselves. You can find more photos in the Gallery section.

You can't even see the hard

The road to the boathouse

Last Saturday was Newnham Short Course, a 1.6km head race from the Little Bridge to the Railings on the Reach. Churchill entered 4 crews, all eager to prove their rowing credentials as Lent Bumps draw ever closer.

Race report from M2: As always the pre-race marshalling for M2 was punctuated by some epic banter, which definitely helped us ignore the cold. The race itself was even better, with the crew putting down a solid performance throughout. Overall we were very pleased with our sub 7-minute time.

W2 marshalling before the start

W2 coming under the railway bridge