62 CUBC Athletes Reunite with Colleges for May Bumps 2025

In the sweltering summer sunshine May Bumps 2025 took place from 18-21 June 2025. May Bumps are a series of rowing races that take place annually on the River Cam in Cambridge, where crews from Cambridge college boat clubs race in a staggered formation, with the goal to bump (or catch up to and touch) the boat ahead. If a bump occurs, both crews stop racing and switch places for the next race. 62 rowers with CUBC connections took part in this year’s event.

Highlights

Thomas Marsh of LMBC retained the Men’s Headship while Sarah Sharp, Grace Forward, and Tash Morrice claimed the Women’s Headship for Jesus, bumping fellow squadmates Eloise Etherington, Carys Earl, and Lucy Havard of Caius W1 off the top spot.

The standout performance of the week was from Peterhouse M1. Bristling with talent in the form of 2025 Blues George Bourne, James Robson, Simon Hatcher, Gabriel Mahler, and Luca Ferraro and joined by Olympic gold medallist Tom Ford. The crew rose eight places to finish second in the men’s first division, a feat requiring an unprecedented two overbumps near the top the rankings and earning them their superblades!

An overbump on Newnham W2 also allowed Helena Olandi, Sophia Hahn, and Samy Morton to claim their superblades with Hughes Hall W1.

Molly Foxell and Arden Berlinger received their blades from Pembroke, bumping each day to finish 5th in the women’s first division while Phoebe Price of Homerton W1 and Annie Wertheimer in St Edmund’s W1 both bladed up a division to end up in the first and second divisions respectively.

Further down the men’s divisions, Matt Heywood, Douwe de Graf, and Tom Macky led St Edmund’s M1 to blades and, along with the performance from their W1 and M2, brought home the Pegasus Cup for best overall performance by a college. Darwin M1, featuring Ben Rutherford, went up five on day 1 with a double overbump, and finished the week by going up eight places in total, landing them securely at station 15 in the men’s second division and achieving superblades.

It was heartbreak as well for James Richards with Girton M1 and Brett Taylor and Josh Moore of Queens’ M1 who rowed over on the final day to just miss out on the coveted honour of blades. Though Queens’ loss was Matt Morgan and Pembroke M1’s gain, as rowing over ahead of Queens’ spared them from being awarded spoons for being bumped at every opportunity.

Said CUBC Women’s President Lucy Havard of the weekend, “May Bumps is such a closely fought and unique competition – a key event in the Cambridge rowing calendar. It’s fantastic to be able to row a bit more locally on the Cam and to reconnect with our colleges. Bumps campaigns are a great opportunity for trialists to share some of their experiences of university rowing. We hope to continue to encourage many more college rowers to consider trialing for the Boat Races.”

Club Secretary Matt Edge added, “Our huge thanks go to the CUCBC and all colleges taking part in this amazing event. Rowing and coaching in the bumps is a fantastic way for trialists to compete for their college and build connections through to the next generation of CUBC athletes. We hope to see lots of familiar faces through the doors in September!”

Athletes, Men:

Lady Margaret M1:
Thomas Marsh
Harry Fieldhouse

Downing M1:
Ed Townsend
Gianluca Maffi

Magdalene M1:
Sam Clarke

Caius M1:
William Morris
William Wauchope
Bryan Chen

St Edmund’s M1:
Tom Macky
Douwe de Graaf
Matt Heywood

Jesus M1:
Joe Travis
Sean Hayes

Emmanuel M1:
Nikolai Harin
Ben Isherwood
Simon Nunayon
Luke Beever

Pembroke M1:
Matt Morgan

St Catharine’s M1:
Matt Edge
Joe Holey

Peterhouse M1:
Luca Ferraro
Gabriel Mahler
Simon Hatcher
James Robson
George Bourne
Tom Ford

Hughes Hall M1:
Connor Attridge
Tom Lynch

Queens’ M1:
Brett Taylor
Josh Moore

Robinson M1:
Theo Hatcher
Louis de Neve

Churchill M1:
Chris Hughes
Jeremy Wilkinson

Christ’s M1:
Alexander Tocher

Girton M1:
James Geraint Richards

Sidney Sussex M1:
Peter Crossley

Athletes, Women:

Caius W1:
Lucy Havard
Carys Earl
Eloise Etherington

Hughes Hall W1:
Sophia Hahn
Samantha Morton
Helena Christine Olandi

Jesus W1:
Tash Morrice
Grace Forward
Sarah Sharp

Emmanuel W1:
Carina Graf
Ellie Sillar

Churchill W1:
Annabelle Moger-Taylor
Margot Faguet

Homerton W1:
Phoebe Price
Bethany Merrifield

St Catharine’s W1:
Jessica van de Grint-Stoop

St Edmund’s W1:
Annie Wertheimer

Pembroke W1:
Arden Berlinger
Molly Foxell

Queens’ W1:
Gigi Pezier

Magdalene W1:
Caroline Rijkse

Darwin W1:
Mia Freischem

Umpires: Katy Hempson (Christ’s), Margot Faguet (Churchill), Chris Hughes (Churchill)

Coaches:

Caius M1:
James Trotman, James Robson, Kate Crowley

Queens’ M1:
Gabriel Mahler

Caius W1:
Joe Travis

Queens’ W1:
James Robson

Sidney Sussex W1:
Sean Hayes

Corpus Christi M1:
Fiona Gabrielczyk

Selwyn W1:
Emily Morbey

Queens’ W2:
Alex Tocher

Queens’ W3:
Alex Tocher

Sidney Sussex W2:
Claire Cooper, Sean Hayes

Churchill M2:
Chris Hughes