University Fours marks the middle of Michaelmas for many a Cambridge boatie. It signifies the clash of the remaining college rowers from the previous term’s May Bumps campaigns, and supposedly functions as an indicator for the performance of clubs in the upcoming terms.

For five afternoons, the river is cleared of inexperienced novices, and becomes the preserve of the Cam’s current elite. In this week-long knock-out tournament, experienced oarsmen race in fours, both coxed and coxless.

The two women’s divisions race side-by-side over a 1km course, and the three men’s divisions race over a 2km course from a staggered start. University Fours 2010 witnessed some unexpected victors, and also a few surprise losers. The afternoons were littered with drama as well, including crashes, blade-clashes, disqualifications, high winds and rain, and even a rogue obstacle in the shape of a skip floating in the river.

Tuesday’s and Thursday’s women’s races saw the emergence of strong crews in the form of Downing W1 and LMBC (St John’s) W1 in the first division, and Downing W2 and Trinity Hall W2 in the second division. Racing in gusty winds on Thursday afternoon, the women’s second division was won by Downing W2 with an impressive time of 6 minutes and 32 seconds.

The women’s first division on Tuesday was disrupted by a surprise disqualification in the semi-finals. A strong Sidney Sussex crew failed to keep to their station, resulting in a blade clash with Emmanuel W1, and their subsequent exclusion from the final. In a similarly exciting semi-final, the tussle between LMBC W1 and Downing W1, both of whom were tipped for possible final positions, resulted in a triumphant win from LMBC in a notable time of 6 minutes and 4 seconds, beating Downing’s winning time in 2009.

The coxless division was only braved by three crews this year: it is often avoided by clubs for fear of collision with the bank and the incompetent steering of oarsmen. For the third year running, this somewhat marginal event was won by LMBC, who seem to have perfected their steering and winning technique. Despite the driving rain on Friday, a somewhat bedraggled-looking Maggie crew managed to pull off two impressive races which saw both First and Third and Clare definitively defeated.

In an unusual turn of events, the men’s coxed four second division saw Clare Hall surface as victors. As one of the Cam’s smaller and less prominent clubs, this somewhat unexpected win could mark the beginning of something special for Clare Hall Boat Club in the coming season. Some would put it down to the luck of a random draw, and it is true that their battle with Jesus M2 in the final resulted in an excruciatingly close victory of just 1.7 seconds.

However, having secured consistent times of under eight minutes, it seems that Clare Hall were deserving winners. Last but by no means least, the men’s coxed first division saw the second of Caius’ two matched first Fours materialise as the frontrunners. Having beaten both First and Third and Downing to reach the final, Caius met Magdalene in their final race. Having both produced strong times in the preceding rounds, these two crews looked set to produce an exciting finale to the week’s racing. However, an unfortunate technical problem and subsequent crash out of Ditton Corner whilst already three lengths down to Caius, meant that Magdalene secured a dramatic conclusion to University Fours 2010, leaving Caius as the definitive and deserving winners of their division.