Captain’s Word Lent 2025
Dear Caians,
I hope this update on the past Lent term at CBC finds you well.
At every occasion possible, Captain’s Words and BCD speeches, I try to bring back attention to the club motto: Labor ipse voluptas. Approaching life with the goal to enjoy the effort itself is not an easy thing to do, but it is the most important skill we can learn from rowing at CBC.
A new way I thought of rephrasing the motto in more present terms is distinguishing between outcome and process. Looking only at the race outcomes of this term hurts – we did not get the outcomes in Bumps we wanted, despite the countless hours of work all of us put in. However, if we follow the philosophy of our club and instead evaluate the process we will spot many subtleties that the bumps charts do not reveal: the friendships formed in the boat club, the strength and better health we gained by training together, and the sense of belonging to something bigger which has existed for nearly 200 years and will continue to be after us. The time and effort we put into rowing this term are commendable in their own right and going forward we will continue to work hard and seek to enjoy the work itself.
Below you can read about Lent 2025 at CBC in the following sections: Races; Lent Bumps; Looking forward; CBC@CUBC; Community: Fast and Fun; Dates for your diary: get involved! You can also find last term’s Captain’s Word on our website. To stay updated, please check out our Facebook or Instagram where you can see more frequent posts on our activities. It’s always nice to hear from alumni, so if you have words of encouragement or stories to share please do get in touch!
Go the Mighty,
Mila Marcheva
Captain of Boats 24-25
Races
M1, W1, and M2 started off the term’s racing with Winter Head-to-Head: the crews race 2x2K, downstream and after a short break upstream. M1 came 5th across college M1s and M2 were 3rd across college M2s. W1 had an unfortunate blade clash with an overtaking boat which caused us to come to a stop during the first leg of the race – although the stop greatly affected our total time, it was a good learning experience as racing on the Cam is often chaotic.
At Pembroke Regatta W1 won their first and only race against Clare: the rest of the racing day was cancelled due to the icy cold conditions. Our men’s and women’s alumni crews also prevailed over the men’s and women’s alumni crews of Pembroke College and received trophy tankards. M1, M2, and W2 unfortunately lost their first rounds of racing but they faced a tough draw: their opposition continued on to win or become finalists at the corresponding divisions of the regatta. A special shout out goes to M2 who had 7 ex-novices in the boat – the current turnover year is proving challenging for the final results, but is a great opportunity to quickly bring our ex-novices up to speed.
Outside of these main races, W2 and M3 put in a strong performance getting used to the Bumps Course at race pace in Newnham Head. Finally, after the end of term M1 took to the Thames and competed in Head of the River!
Lent Bumps
The bumps charts for Lent Bumps cannot and do not reveal the amounts of hard work that went down in the boat club last term. W1 and M1 trained up to 9 times a week, the rowers from the second boats also committed to the training programme, and we all pushed each other to be stronger during our shared land sessions. Throughout the week an unwavering optimism persisted: every day we showed up ready to give our best and honour our crew mates and the club in doing that. You can watch the bumps footage kindly filmed by CBC alumnus Tom Fardon on his YouTube channel – you can see the refusal to give up and the tenaciousness with which our crews fought every day of bumps to defend our positions despite the strong opposition.
Starting at the Gettin on Race, W3 competed and had a great time, but unfortunately did not get on to race bumps after facing strong W2s and W3s in the race. On Day 1 of Bumps, M1 and W2 both bumped the crews they were chasing! This placed M1 as second on the river and W2 more firmly in the second division (which allows them to go out in the tougher “Yellow Flag” conditions). M2 and W1 both got bumped. On Day 2 M1 had a strong row over at second. W1, M2, and W2 all got bumped. On the last two days of bumps, all 4 of our crews got bumped.
It is not at all easy to write about these results after having worked so hard and seen the club members really commit themselves to the training – but at the same time the commitment to show up for each other and do our best day after day, rather than the final results, is what makes us the Mighty.
Looking forward
Many of us are in Cambridge over the vacation and Easter training is in full force both here and virtually. M1 contenders have already been going out in the VIII+ with newly installed telemetry, and men and women train together on the ergs and in the gym. We again are logging our training on a spreadsheet shared by the whole club and cheering each other on.
Right before the start of term, from 21st of April to 25th of April, we are going on training camp at Reading Rowing Club – we are taking an VIII+ and a IV+ from each side. The camp is generously subsidised by the Caius Club.
Looking forward to Easter Term, we will continue to work our hardest. With M1 3rd on the river and W1 1st, we are determined to do what is within our power to defend and advance our positions across all of our boats.
CBC @ CUBC
CBC has 6 trialists at CUBC, out of whom 3 will be racing in the Boat Races: Carys Earl has been selected to row in the Blue Boat for a second year in a row; Eloise Etherington is going to be the 7 seat of Blondie; and Will Morris is racing with the Lightweight Men. We will be supporting Cambridge and cheering our rowers extra loud in the Lightweight Boat Races on April 12th and the Boat Races on April 13th. We are also proud of our remaining 3 trialists who trained with the CUBC squad all season in a very competitive year: Lucy Havard (CUBC President, Openweight Spare), William Wauchope and Bryan Chen.
Community: Fast and Fun
The team spirit was strong this term fostered through many hours spent together on the water and in the gym. We also grabbed lunch together in the hall nearly every week and crews attended formal halls or brunch to spend even more time together. We celebrated the end of term as a club at BCD.
Lent term can be cold and bleak with morning meet times before 6 am and unpredictable weather. On the plus side, we experienced many amazing sunrises:
Dates for your diary: get involved!
- May Bumps — June 18th to 21st, BCD on June 21st
We are required by CUCBC to provide marshals and umpires for bumps – normally, these are the current athletes who have to quickly cycle back to race after marshalling. This year we are looking for alumni volunteers to fill some of these slots (exact timings will be known closer to the date), which would allow for the athletes to stay warm and focus on their race. Additionally, we usually have a few free spots for bank partying every day. We will also set up the traditional Marquee at Caius Meadows for Saturday of Bumps, and hope to see you there! For any queries, please email me at caius.captain@cucbc.org
- 25th Anniversary of the Caius Mays Double Headship – June 20th and 21st
Tom and Emma Fardon (tom.fardon@me.com and emmafardon@me.com) and Paul Steen (paulsteen52@gmail.com) from the victorious crews are planning a celebration: dinner on Friday and a rowthrough of the 2000 Mays M1 and W1 on the Saturday of Bumps. If you would like to join in and have not heard from Tom, Emma, or Paul, please reach out to them on the above emails. Tom and Emma have also been kindly supporting us on the bank through the last three sets of Bumps – feel free to reach out to them about their experience of coming back to CBC as alumni.
- CBC Bicentenary — April 2027
The preparations for celebrating our club’s Bicentenary in 2027 are well underway. If you would like to get involved in the organisation, please reach out to our President George Budden (george@budden.net) who is leading the efforts, and otherwise, stay posted on our social media and via the college’s channels to hear more closer to the time.
Captain’s Word Michaelmas 2024
Dear Caians,
I am excited to write to you with an update on the past Michaelmas term at CBC.
I would like to start by introducing myself: I am now in my third year of a PhD in Computer Science, having previously also completed my BA and MEng at Caius. I noviced at CBC in Michaelmas 2018 and have rowed since, as well as being Women’s Co-Vice-Captain last year. For a full introduction of the 24-25 Committee please check out our Facebook or Instagram.
Despite the challenges of the term, perhaps because of them, we currently find ourselves especially focused on the club motto: Labor ipse voluptas, the pleasure is in the effort itself. Our goals for the Lent and May terms are incredibly ambitious (look at the bumps charts and you can guess what we have our eyes set on…) and with great things within our reach, it would be easy to overfixate on the final result. The club motto however, steers us on the right path: all we need to focus on is working hard today and finding enjoyment in committing ourselves to the effort.
Below you can read about Michaelmas 2024 at CBC in the following sections:
Kicking off the term with the Freshers’ Barbeque; Novice Races; Senior Races; Looking forward; CBC @ CUBC; Community: Fast and Fun; Dates for your diary: get involved!.
I would like to wish you a warm and cozy holiday season spent with your loved ones. At CBC, this Christmas vacation, we might be apart physically, but in spirit we are bonded by the commitment to work hard, determined to make the most of every stroke in the next two terms.
Go the Mighty,
Mila Marcheva
Captain of Boats 24-25
CBC Captains 24-25 (from left to right):
Esther Magedera (Cox’s Captain),
Mia Bentham (Women’s Vice-Captain),
Mila Marcheva (Captain of Boats),
Ben Burgess (Men’s Vice-Captain),
Will Morris (Men’s Vice-Captain).
All of us learned to row at Caius.
photo by @mohseidon
Kicking off the term with the Freshers’ Barbeque
Starting early, on the 6th of October we held our annual freshers’ barbeque where any Caian new to the college and/or to rowing can get in a boat and meet the current club members. In numbers, over 200 burgers were eaten and between the hours of 13:30 and 17:30 we had a fleet of 4 boats constantly going between the boathouse and Jesus Lock and slotting out the enthusiastic future novices. The freshers’ barbeque is only possible thanks to the current members volunteering their day – whether it is prepping the food, talking to the future novices about rowing at Caius, coaching on the ergs or coxing and rowing in the boats to ensure safety, the event showcases our community’s team spirit and commitment to welcoming new members to the club.
A small fraction of the atendees!
Committee and volunteers after the freshers’ BBQ
Freshers waiting to slot in
The way we can let complete novices get in the boat and ensure safety relies on having 4 seniors in the boat: we have senior rowers in bow pair and stroke seat. There are therefore only 5 seats for the freshers in every boat so we have to do a lot of shuttles to accommodate the large number of attendees.
Novice Races
Our newly acquired novices participated in Queens Ergs, the first race in the novice calendar, which happens in the form of a 500m erg relay. Our NM1 placed 3rd overall! Our NW1 qualified for the final and came 8th overall. Our NW2 came 7th in their semifinal and unfortunately did not proceed to the finals. Sadly, the first scheduled race on the water, Emma Sprints, was cancelled due to bad weather – otherwise it is a fan favourite as the novices have to take part in fancy dress.
Next on was Clare Novices Regatta – our NM2 won 2 rounds of racing and were on track to win the third one but got disqualified due to a collision with their competitors – an unfortunate but not uncommon occurrence in the chaos of novice regattas! NM1 did not get to race due to issues during marshalling. NW1 lost to a strong Wolfson NW1 crew and NW2 lost with a short margin to LMBC NW2 in the first round of the regatta.
The last race of term is Fairbairns – it is the longest race for the novices, a whole 2700m. On the men’s side NM1 came 6th overall and NM2 came 7th amongst the second novice boats. NW1 were 16th out of 34 crews in their division and NW2 were 11th in their division.
NW1 after Fairbairns
NM2 and their LBCs at Queens Ergs
Senior Races
With a busy novice calendar, there are never many races for senior crews in Michaelmas. This year, our senior squad only competed in the Uni IVs knockout regatta, and the gruelling Fairbairn Cup head race.
W2 stole the show remaining undefeated throughout the term: they won the W2 division in University IVs as well as the W2 division in Fairbairns! W1 got on to the quarter-finals of Uni IVs, but lost to a strong Queens W1. At Fairbairns, W1 rowed fantastically to take 3rd place in the tightly contested IVs division.
M1 had a strong run to the semi-finals of uni IVs, before crew availabilities forced them to withdraw from the final day of racing. M1 also raced in a IV at Fairbairns and placed 11th in a strong field. M2 only raced in Fairbairns as an VIII and placed 5th in their division. Additionally, a mixed IV composed of alumni and current students raced in the invitational IV category at Fairbairns.
W1 marshaling after Fairbairns
M1 at Fairbairns
W2 receiving their Fairbairns prizes
M2 after Fairbairns
Looking forward
Although we haven’t seen wins across the board, the senior squad is in high spirits and determined to continue working hard over the Christmas vacation and in Lent. Our goal for Lent 2025 is clear: we are going for the double headship, which is in reach with M1 being 3rd on the river and W1 being 2nd.
Christmas training is already underway with an ambitious programme of ergs and weights, and adjustments to accommodate those without access to equipment. The training is logged on a spreadsheet shared by the whole club so we can keep each other accountable and foster healthy intersquad competition. We are planning to finish the Christmas training and officially transition into the preparation for Lents with an on-Cam training camp starting the week before term on 13th January.
CBC @ CUBC
As has been the case since the beginnings of CUBC, Caius rowers are strongly represented in the university boat club. This year we have 6 trialists, 3 of whom learnt to row at Caius. We look forward to celebrating their achievements at CUBC, and are excited for them to return to the club with their new experience for the May Bumps campaign.
On the women’s side returning to CUBC are Lucy Havard (History PhD, 2022), who was elected as the Open weight Women’s President at CUBC, and Carys Earl (Medicine, 2021). Eloise Etherington (Natural Sciences, 2024) has joined the college and CUBC this year after already having had remarkable success in rowing including a bronze in the Women’s quadruple sculls (JW4x) at the 2024 World Rowing U19 Championships. On the men’s side, we have one returning open weight trialist – Will Wauchope (Philosophy, 2022). Will Morris (Economics, 2022), one of our Men’s Vice-Captains, is in his first year trialling as a lightweight. Additionally, Bryan Chen (Engineering, 2024) joined Caius and the CUBC open weight squad this year, having previously rowed for Westminster School.
5 of our trialists participated in Trial VIIIs where matched crews from Cambridge race the championship course. Carys and Eloise were in the 7 seats of the open weight women’s boats, Lucy stroked one of the lightweight women’s boats, Will Wauchope rowed in 3 seat of one of the open weight men’s boats and Will Morris was in 7 seat of one of the lightweight men’s boats.
Eloise in 7 seat; Trial VIIIs photo from cubc.org.uk
Will M. in 7 seat; Trial VIIIs
photo from cubc.org.uk
Community: Fast and Fun
The team spirit was strong this term, fostered by a variety of events. Ensuring the club serves as a strong support system for its members on and off the water is a long-term investment: it’s a well-known fact that when the squad is having fun, the boat goes faster; and equally, when the boat goes faster, we have even more fun.
We had expert-led talks focused on the wellbeing of the members. This included a nutrition talk and a consent and mental health workshop. At the start of term our coxes, captains, and coaches also attended a talk with the CUCBC Safety Officer to ensure we are an exemplary participant on the college rowing scene.
Additionally, we of course had a variety of fun social events, starting off with a casual social at the start of term where novices and seniors could meet. On Bonfire Night, as has become tradition, we watched the fireworks from the boathouse balcony together with a cup of hot chocolate. Next we had an “Iconic Duos” social where a novice and a senior were paired and had to dress up as a famous duo – examples included Mario and Luigi, Buzz Lightyear and Woody, Tom and Jerry… Both seniors and novices showed great commitment to their assigned theme and the night concluded with team games. We are very excited that the novices this term were committed not only to the training, but participated in the social events with enthusiasm and the novice and senior squads were well acquainted by the end of the term.
When it comes to our community, I should thank Dr Maša Amatt (Senior Treasurer 23-24) for her support of CBC last year and introduce Dr Andrew Spencer as our new Senior Treasurer. Andrew is also the Senior Tutor at the college, so we are very fortunate to be able to lean on his expertise based on years of leading and supporting the student body.
Bonfire night at the boatbouse
“Fun” photo at Michaelmas BCD photo by @mohseidon
Dates for your diary: get involved!
- Pembroke Regatta — February 15th, Alumni racing and casual dinner
The alumni divisions of Pembroke Regatta are customarily dominated by CBC alumni.
If you would like to race and are not already in a crew, please reach out to me on caius.captain@cucbc.org or to Jack Campbell (Alumni officer, Captain of Boats 23-24) on jc2326@cam.ac.uk. If you are not looking to race and just want to attend, keep the date in your diary and await further details from Jack and via our social channels (Facebook and Instagram).
- Lent Bumps — March 11th to 15th, BCD on March 15th
We are required by CUCBC to provide marshals and umpires for bumps – normally, these are the current athletes who have to quickly cycle back to race after marshalling. This year we are looking for alumni volunteers to fill some of these slots (exact timings will be known closer to the date), which would allow for the athletes to stay warm and focus on their race. Additionally, we usually have a few free spots for bank partying every day. If either of these interest you please email me at caius.captain@cucbc.org
- May Bumps — June 18th to 21st, BCD on June 21st
The same applies for May Bumps regarding marshalling, umpiring, and bank partying. In addition May Bumps 2025 marks the 25th anniversary of the Caius Mays Double Headship in 2000 and together with Tom and Emma Fardon from these victorious crews we are planning a celebration. More details to follow in due course, but if you would like to get in touch about this please email me at caius.captain@cucbc.org
Captain’s Word Michaelmas 2023
First, an introduction, I am Jack Campbell, the new Captain of Boats, taking over from the fantastic work of Emma Radford last year and her many successes, I am a third year reading History and Philosophy of Science. I wanted to update you on the successful start that CBC has had to our 2023-24 season, and bring the news and plans for the rest of this exciting year.
The Season so far
With novice season kicking off each exciting season at CBC, this year was no different, with a fantastic group of keen (and fast) novices joining our ranks this term. Throughout a tough field of novice crews during the term, with successes such as both NW1 and NW2 taking 3rd in Qergs, the novices excelled in a tricky term full of yellow flags and restricted rowing. This culminated in Fairbairns, where all novice crews ranked within the top ten of their divisions.
In the Senior squad work was steady within the men’s side, building from close defeat by the ultimate victors at University IVs for the first boat, an unfortunate 3rd place at Winter Head, and a successful 2nd place for the M2 4+ within their division at Winter head, culminating in a clean sweep for the Caius Men at Fairbairns, with M1 setting the fastest time of the day outright, and M2 beating many college M1s to take an assured win in the M2 division.
The Senior squad the work was steady with both sides, with the men building from an unfortunate 3rd place at Winter head to take a clean sweep at Fairbairn’s, with M1 setting the fastest time of the day outright, and M2 beating many college M1s to take an assured win in the M2 division. The women’s side had a successful term at the top of a very competitive field of college crews, with highlights such as Winter Head, which saw W1 only 3 seconds off 2nd, culminating in Fairbairn’s where both W1 and W2 took 6th place less than a second to 5th.
Trialists
We continue the strong tradition of Caius trialists, on both sides of the Light/Dark Blue divide. For oarswomen we have Carys Earl (a Caius novice), Lucy Havard, Charley Craig, and Margaux Riley all trialing. On the men’s side oarsmen Cameron Mackenzie, Will Wauchope, Jamie Maxen, Matt Francis (three of whom noviced at Caius), are flying the Caius flag at CUBC. Charlotte Heeley, a Caius cox, rounds out the Caians representing light blue, while both Ellie Nanni and Tara Slade are trialing for the Oxford crews as coxes. We wish them all the absolute best in the run up to their races, and indeed throughout the trialing process itself, I know it makes the whole club excited and proud to see their progress.
Keeping in touch
Having a fantastic group of alumni is something that we truly feel is something special about CBC, and we love seeing being part of this. Events this year largely focus around the Pembroke Regatta on the 17th February, with a dinner for racers and alumni alike afterwards, and our end of year BCD, after Mays, with the exact dates to be confirmed by CUCBC. If you would like to get involved in Pembroke regatta, as a racer or for dinner, then please get in touch with Natasha, our alumni officer, at nht23@cam.ac.uk. If you have any questions, would like to get involved in the club in any way, such as bank partying or even taking a boat out as a fantastic composite alumni crew did earlier this term, or simply have an old story, we love hearing from you, so please do get in touch with myself, the men’s or women’s captains at: caius.captain@cucbc.org , caius.women@cucbc.org and caius.men@cucbc.org
Looking Forward
Looking towards next term, we start with an on Cam training camp, bringing the novices into the exciting and speedy ranks of the Senior crews, and look towards on Cam races such as Newnham Head, Pembroke Regatta, and ultimately Lent Bumps, with M1 in a privileged position of looking towards headship. We are also hoping to race at HoRR and WeHoRR as the close of the Lent season.
Thank You
My personal thanks go out to everyone who has been involved in the smooth running of the club so far this year, with Maša Amatt taking on the role of interim Senior Treasurer amazingly, with constant support for us all; George Budden, our President and the advisory committee who have been amazingly generous with wise words and experience; Simon Goodbrand who has continued to serve as our boatman with possibly more patience than we deserve; and last but not least to the committee and Captains who have been working tirelessly to keep the fantastic club running as it has been, with a tough legacy to live up to they have excelled.
I hope you have had a restful Christmas and a Happy New Year, and I hope to see some of you over the next few months as we look towards exciting things on the Cam.
Jack Campbell
Captain of Boats, CBC 2023-24
Captain’s Word Michaelmas 2022
CBC News
I am very excited to share with you what has been a very successful term. Firstly, I must introduce myself, I am Emma Radford, the new Captain of Boats. I have taken over from Joe Nash after his successes last year. We are aiming for another successful year on the Cam with quadruple Headship on the cards for the first time. I am a 3rd year reading Biological Natural Sciences.
Success of term
This year we have welcomed a new cohort of keen novices. Taking wins on both sides this term, it bodes well for Lents when they add strength to the senior squads. NM1 narrowly missed out on the win for the first few races of term but retained the title we have held since 2017, winning Fairbairn’s. NM2 came in strong finishing joint 2nd at Fairbairns.
On the women’s side we saw success with NW1 winning Emma Sprints and Clare Regatta and holding 4th place at Fairbairn’s, NW2 saw an ejector blade at Clare regatta but finished a strong 3rd at Fairbairns.
In the senior squad both the men and women’s second fours won their respective divisions at Uni Fours Regatta. W1 won Autumn head at the start of the term and at Fairbairns W1 came 3rd only 7s behind the winners, W2 finished 3rd and W3 came 1st.
M1 won Fairbairn’s for the first time in 11 years, winning by 11 seconds and M2 won their division, beating 18 M1 crews in the process.
Advisory Committee
I am excited to announce that we have set up a Caius Boat Club Advisory Committee. Here, members of the Junior committee will work with alumni who have a range of experience rowing and beyond to put CBC in the best possible position to excel. This aims to provide more long-term sustainable planning for our club and enable greater connection with and involvement of alumni in order to facilitate Caius to go from strength to strength on and off the water. I am delighted to announce we have David Tait (chair), George Budden (President), Fay Sandford and Melissa Wilson on board to start this adventure. David rowed at Caius 1996-1999 (Captain ’99) and at CULRC in 98 and 99. Fay rowed Caius W1 in 2010-2013 and the CUWBC Blue Boat in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Melissa rowed at Caius Mays 2012, 2013, 2015 and rowed with CUW/CUBC 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017. She rowed GB U23 WCs 2014, 2015 and Senior WCs 2017, 2018, 2019 and qualified a boat for the Olympics. More information on George to follow!
Coaches
This term we saw Tim Schmalz leave to coach Radley School. Since his departure we have welcomed Kozzy Voudouris from Kings as W1 coach, Molly Shaw from Cantabs as W2 coach, Ella Cross as W3 coach. For the novice women we have Joe Dolphin and Rhiannon Smith as NW1 and Freya Eastwood as NW2 coach.
On the men’s side, Ben Dyer returns to coach M1 and Felicity White joins to coach M2. For the novices our own Inigo Holman coached NM1, and NM2 has been coached by Louis Baxter from Sidney. A big thank you to all the coaches for achieving the successes of term.
New President Announcement
The CBC Junior Committee and I are delighted to announce the appointment of George Budden as our new Boat Club President. George will take over immediately following the retirement of Martin Wade earlier this year. We are fortunate that Martin will remain as Emeritus President. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Martin for over two decades of exceptional leadership as President, having overseen multiple blades and Headships in his time and our consistent growth as a club. George, our incoming President, matriculated at Caius in 1984 where he read Mathematics. He became Overall Captain at CBC in 1987 and rowed in the ’87 Headship Crew (when Caius won its first Headship since the 19th century). George writes ‘I have very fond memories of rowing at Caius and met most of my best friends there in one boat or another! I look forward to working with CBC on its next exciting adventure – towards the bicentenary of its founding 2027) for starters.’ We are all very excited to work with him and look forward to continued success on the river.
The End of an Era: Jimmy’s resignation
The current committee would like to say a heartfelt thank you to Jimmy Altham who will step down from his role of Senior Treasurer after Mays 2023. I am sure I speak on behalf of many alumni who have rowed at the club in the last 17 years that Jimmy has guided the club financially and provided unwavering support on the bank. We owe Jimmy a lot and a special shoutout has to go to Jimmy for being Chair of the Committee that achieved construction of the new boathouse. This without debate is something that all Caians are proud of and love rowing from every day. In my unbiased opinion, it is the best boathouse on the river!
Jimmy, we all love your dedication and support to Caius Boat Club. We hope you can enjoy some peace without the CBC finances, but look forward to seeing you at future BCDs and on the bank at Bumps.
Here is Jimmy pictured with Captain Brie Stark when the ‘Jimmy Altham’ boat was launched! This boat has been used by W1, M2 and now W2 love rowing in the ‘Jimmy’. GTM!
Trialists
We have many trialists rowing this term with the University. We have Lucy Havard, Vera Kunz and Carys Earl (our novice from last year) on the women’s side. On the men’s side there is Dan Toy, George Hawkswell, Cameron Mackenzie, Tom Knell (Lightweight), and Matt Francis (another of our very own novices last year). We wish them the best in the run up to their respective boat races
Headship Board & Pembroke Regatta
This term we have looked back at our history and the fabulous successes with the design of the Headship Board kindly donated by Jack MacDonald. This shows 35 Headships since 1998 – truly remarkable! There is plenty of space to fill so we are hoping for a successful year! We plan to hold an opening ceremony for this combined with Pembroke Regatta on the 18th February (tbc). If you are interested in rowing at Pembroke Regatta please get in touch with Honora, our alumni officer at hav25@cam.ac.uk. She will also post this on the facebook group which you can join on this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/421237438504722/
Socials/ Staying in touch
We love when alumni get in touch. Please find us on facebook and instagram and we are reigniting our twitter @caiusboatclub. If you are in Cambridge and keen to come along and bank party a session, we would love to have you and hear about your old stories from CBC. Email the men’s or women’s captains at: caius.women@cucbc.org and caius.men@cucbc.org.
Plans for next term: Training Camp and Racing
In the new year we are excited to have 30+ people signed up to go on our first training camp since I have been here to Chester. Please all hope for good weather in Chester on the 8th January, we will need it!! CBC went to Chester in 2018 so we are excited to visit again. This will be a great opportunity to integrate the novices and focus without the usual bustle of term. With less than 12 weeks till Lent Bumps next year we are looking forward to Newnham Head, followed by Pembroke Regatta and the respective Heads of the river. I will be in touch at the start of term with the dates of these and we would love support from you on the banks.
Thank you!
A want to say a big thank you to the whole committee with the recent addition of 2 new welfare roles. It is amazing that so many people can be involved with making sure the club runs smoothly.
Silver Buttons for Blazers
The silver buttons that once adorned every Caius May and Henley blazer have not been made for over fifty years. Now, after a collaboration between a CBC alumnus and a Norfolk jeweler, the buttons are available again. Made from the ‘lost wax’ process, they are cast in sterling silver in two sizes, larger for the blazer body and smaller for the cuffs. The buttons may be ordered from Lanes Jewellery, info@lanes.co.uk, Tel 01263 713738. Speak to Josh for further information.
Merry Christmas and I wish you the best in the New Year, and hopefully see some of your faces on the Cam.
Emma Radford
Captain of Caius Boat Club 2022-23
Captain’s Word Michaelmas 2022
CBC News
I am very excited to share with you what has been a very successful term. Firstly, I must introduce myself, I am Emma Radford, the new Captain of Boats. I have taken over from Joe Nash after his successes last year. We are aiming for another successful year on the Cam with quadruple Headship on the cards for the first time. I am a 3rd year reading Biological Natural Sciences.
Success of term
This year we have welcomed a new cohort of keen novices. Taking wins on both sides this term, it bodes well for Lents when they add strength to the senior squads. NM1 narrowly missed out on the win for the first few races of term but retained the title we have held since 2017, winning Fairbairn’s. NM2 came in strong finishing joint 2nd at Fairbairns.
On the women’s side we saw success with NW1 winning Emma Sprints and Clare Regatta and holding 4th place at Fairbairn’s, NW2 saw an ejector blade at Clare regatta but finished a strong 3rd at Fairbairns.
In the senior squad both the men and women’s second fours won their respective divisions at Uni Fours Regatta. W1 won Autumn head at the start of the term and at Fairbairns W1 came 3rd only 7s behind the winners, W2 finished 3rd and W3 came 1st.
M1 won Fairbairn’s for the first time in 11 years, winning by 11 seconds and M2 won their division, beating 18 M1 crews in the process.
Advisory Committee
I am excited to announce that we have set up a Caius Boat Club Advisory Committee. Here, members of the Junior committee will work with alumni who have a range of experience rowing and beyond to put CBC in the best possible position to excel. This aims to provide more long-term sustainable planning for our club and enable greater connection with and involvement of alumni in order to facilitate Caius to go from strength to strength on and off the water. I am delighted to announce we have David Tait (chair), George Budden (President), Fay Sandford and Melissa Wilson on board to start this adventure. David rowed at Caius 1996-1999 (Captain ’99) and at CULRC in 98 and 99. Fay rowed Caius W1 in 2010-2013 and the CUWBC Blue Boat in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Melissa rowed at Caius Mays 2012, 2013, 2015 and rowed with CUW/CUBC 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017. She rowed GB U23 WCs 2014, 2015 and Senior WCs 2017, 2018, 2019 and qualified a boat for the Olympics. More information on George to follow!
Coaches
This term we saw Tim Schmalz leave to coach Radley School. Since his departure we have welcomed Kozzy Voudouris from Kings as W1 coach, Molly Shaw from Cantabs as W2 coach, Ella Cross as W3 coach. For the novice women we have Joe Dolphin and Rhiannon Smith as NW1 and Freya Eastwood as NW2 coach.
On the men’s side, Ben Dyer returns to coach M1 and Felicity White joins to coach M2. For the novices our own Inigo Holman coached NM1, and NM2 has been coached by Louis Baxter from Sidney. A big thank you to all the coaches for achieving the successes of term.
New President Announcement
The CBC Junior Committee and I are delighted to announce the appointment of George Budden as our new Boat Club President. George will take over immediately following the retirement of Martin Wade earlier this year. We are fortunate that Martin will remain as Emeritus President. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Martin for over two decades of exceptional leadership as President, having overseen multiple blades and Headships in his time and our consistent growth as a club. George, our incoming President, matriculated at Caius in 1984 where he read Mathematics. He became Overall Captain at CBC in 1987 and rowed in the ’87 Headship Crew (when Caius won its first Headship since the 19th century). George writes ‘I have very fond memories of rowing at Caius and met most of my best friends there in one boat or another! I look forward to working with CBC on its next exciting adventure – towards the bicentenary of its founding 2027) for starters.’ We are all very excited to work with him and look forward to continued success on the river.
The End of an Era: Jimmy’s resignation
The current committee would like to say a heartfelt thank you to Jimmy Altham who will step down from his role of Senior Treasurer after Mays 2023. I am sure I speak on behalf of many alumni who have rowed at the club in the last 17 years that Jimmy has guided the club financially and provided unwavering support on the bank. We owe Jimmy a lot and a special shoutout has to go to Jimmy for being Chair of the Committee that achieved construction of the new boathouse. This without debate is something that all Caians are proud of and love rowing from every day. In my unbiased opinion, it is the best boathouse on the river!
Jimmy, we all love your dedication and support to Caius Boat Club. We hope you can enjoy some peace without the CBC finances, but look forward to seeing you at future BCDs and on the bank at Bumps.
Here is Jimmy pictured with Captain Brie Stark when the ‘Jimmy Altham’ boat was launched! This boat has been used by W1, M2 and now W2 love rowing in the ‘Jimmy’. GTM!
Trialists
We have many trialists rowing this term with the University. We have Lucy Havard, Vera Kunz and Carys Earl (our novice from last year) on the women’s side. On the men’s side there is Dan Toy, George Hawkswell, Cameron Mackenzie, Tom Knell (Lightweight), and Matt Francis (another of our very own novices last year). We wish them the best in the run up to their respective boat races.
Headship Board & Pembroke Regatta
This term we have looked back at our history and the fabulous successes with the design of the Headship Board kindly donated by Jack MacDonald. This shows 35 Headships since 1998 – truly remarkable! There is plenty of space to fill so we are hoping for a successful year! We plan to hold an opening ceremony for this combined with Pembroke Regatta on the 18th February (tbc). If you are interested in rowing at Pembroke Regatta please get in touch with Honora, our alumni officer at hav25@cam.ac.uk. She will also post this on the facebook group which you can join on this link:
Socials/ Staying in touch
We love when alumni get in touch. Please find us on facebook and instagram and we are reigniting our twitter @caiusboatclub. If you are in Cambridge and keen to come along and bank party a session, we would love to have you and hear about your old stories from CBC. Email the men’s or women’s captains at: caius.women@cucbc.org and caius.men@cucbc.org.
Plans for next term: Training Camp and Racing
In the new year we are excited to have 30+ people signed up to go on our first training camp since I have been here to Chester. Please all hope for good weather in Chester on the 8th January, we will need it!! CBC went to Chester in 2018 so we are excited to visit again. This will be a great opportunity to integrate the novices and focus without the usual bustle of term. With less than 12 weeks till Lent Bumps next year we are looking forward to Newnham Head, followed by Pembroke Regatta and the respective Heads of the river. I will be in touch at the start of term with the dates of these and we would love support from you on the banks.
Thank you!
A want to say a big thank you to the whole committee with the recent addition of 2 new welfare roles. It is amazing that so many people can be involved with making sure the club runs smoothly.
Silver Buttons for Blazers
The silver buttons that once adorned every Caius May and Henley blazer have not been made for over fifty years. Now, after a collaboration between a CBC alumnus and a Norfolk jeweler, the buttons are available again. Made from the ‘lost wax’ process, they are cast in sterling silver in two sizes, larger for the blazer body and smaller for the cuffs. The buttons may be ordered from Lanes Jewellery, info@lanes.co.uk, Tel 01263 713738. Speak to Josh for further information.
Merry Christmas and I wish you the best in the New Year, and hopefully see some of your faces on the Cam.
Emma Radford
Captain of Caius Boat Club 2022-23