Torpids, an annual rowing competition which was due to take place next week, has been cancelled by the Oxford University Rowing Clubs (OURCs). 

One of two bumping races in the Oxford University Rowing calendar, Torpids consists of men’s and women’s crews from every qualifying college competing for the title of ‘Head of the River’. Competing boats line up in single file, and the aim of the race is to hit/overtake (‘bump’) the boat in front, without getting bumped by the boat behind. If this occurs, the boat will go up in rankings, and the boat that reaches the top of the first division will win the title for their college.

Parts of the UK recorded their wettest January/February in history earlier this year, and Oxford was no exception, with January’s rainfall being 162% higher than the historical average. The Isis River, where Torpids takes place, has continued to experience extremely high water levels since the rainy start to the year. To assess whether it is safe to row on the Isis, the organisers use a flag system, which goes from light green (no restrictions) to black (no crews are allowed out). The penultimate flag is the red flag, which also forbids any crews from rowing, and the river has been at a red-flag level since 11 January. If the bout of good weather were to hold, which it is not expected to do, water levels will likely remain at high for a number of days, preventing the races from taking place.

In an email sent to various college rowing clubs this morning, the Senior Umpires of the OURCs stated that the number of “top crews who felt unable to race on low red flag on safety grounds […] was significant”, and that “it is not possible to run fair bumps racing with that many crews missing”. 

This is not the first time that Torpids has been cancelled due to poor weather conditions. A dangerously high stream led to the competition being  cancelled in 2014, 2020, and 2024. However, this is the longest that a red flag has been flown on consecutive days since 2014. 

The captains of Oriel College Boat Club, the most successful rowing college in Oxford, expressed their disappointment at the competition’s cancellation. Women’s captain Merle Beerens said she was “so, so upset” about it, adding that crews have “trained so hard to make it happen, knowing it was going to be high-stream. We’ve got in all the training that we could have got, and it’s just really, really sad that [OURCs]’ve canceled it”. She added that she would have been “very confident to field crews in these conditions” and states that she “would rather get spoons, knowing that I have done everything I could, than cancel Torpids”. She noted that it was “gutting” for novice rowers, who will have missed their first opportunities to race.

Similarly, men’s captain Freiderikos Vassos said that he was “really upset” about Torpids being cancelled, stressing that novice rowers who have undergone “grueling” rowing training will miss out. He also argued that certain captains may have had separate qualms about racing: “they asked the captains whether they could field safe crews, and it seemed like at the Captain’s meeting most people wanted Torpids to go ahead. I’m quite concerned, to be honest, that some people are worried that they’re liable to get bumped and have said that they can’t field safe crews in order for that not to happen”.

OURCs have been approached for comment.