Frequently Asked Questions

This photo is of Girton M2 bumping in mays 2020. "Bumps" races happen during Lent and Easter Term and involve physically "bumping" your boat against the opponents, (read more here) it is an incredibly exciting one of a kind race (Let's not mention the other place...) which we train year round for.
To get all the info about join the club head over to the Join page.

Boat club members have access to several facilities.
Our Erg Room, located in Girton College, is a great place to get those miles in off the water

Members can also use our single person rowing boats, sculls, once they have shown their competence

And of course, members can expect to row and be coached in one of Girtons VIII (eight person) rowing boats and race in events, all based out of Girton's shared boathouse

Finally, boat club members also have the opportunity to attend many socials, order stash and attend Boat Club Dinner!

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, membership is usually around 30£ per term, however this may be less for some crews. The membership allow us to keep our boat club running and allow us to continue to use and maintain equipment worth many thousands of pounds.

Definitely! We welcome rowers of all abilities, if you have previous experience rowing, it is often possible to jump right into to the senior crews boat. If you have extensive racing experience and are interested in competing against Oxford University in the boat race, it might be worth getting in touch with CUBC the Cambridge University Boat Club. If you have any queries about how the boat club operates or where you would fit in, please feel free to contact us.

All members of the college are very welcome to join, be they fellows or freshers. If you are not a member of Girton College there might still be space for you in our boathouse! Please get in contact with the Men's Captain or the Women's Captain.

The boat house is located by the river cam opposite midsummer common. To find it on google maps search for "Corpus Christi Boat House".

Google map location of boat house

The majority of novice rowers learn to row in Michealmas term, however, if there are enough enthusiastic rowers, novice outings and coaching often occur in other terms, contact the lower boat captains if you would like to get involved!

The intensity of training varies greatly depending on which crew you join. Senior first boats can expect to have 5-6 training sessions a week, with usually half of these being on the water, while lower boats and novices often have 2-3 trainings a week. However, this can vary greatly around the year, from closer to races where the intensity rises to other times where we train less. Rowing provides a great break to studying and although some of the senior boats training schedules can look intense, we often find it helps rather then hinders academic performance.

To use GCBC's sculls, you must a member of the boat club. Then, after you have shown your competence using sculls and you will be signed off, you may then take the sculls out whenever you wish. If you do not have experience scullling, signed off members of GCBC are happy to help you get the basics!

Head over to the support GCBC page

Head over to the support GCBC page

Head over to the alumni page

If any of your questions were left unanswered, please head over to the contact us page