Cambridge ‘99 Rowing Club ready to host 43rd edition of Cambridge Autumn Regatta at Ditton Meadows

Nearly 400 rowers will descend on Cambridge’s Ditton Meadows on Sunday for the 43rd Cambridge Autumn Regatta – hosted by Cambridge ’99 Rowing Club – as the club celebrates its 125th year on the water.

This year the club is collaborating with British Rowing’s charitable foundation Love Rowing for The Big Row – a national challenge to row the distance from Paris to Los Angeles (15,241 km) to raise money for inclusive, accessible rowing and to celebrate the end of the Paris Paralympics.

Every kilometre rowed in the regatta will count towards the total, and there will also be ergs (rowing machines) on site to get some extra distance in.

Tamzin Byrne, chair of the Cambridge Autumn Regatta, said: “Generations of Olympic champions have trained on the Cam, but Cambridge is also a really special rowing hotspot, where thousands of people of all ages and all levels of fitness can get out on the water with very few barriers to access.

“The money raised through the Big Row will help Love Rowing to make rowing every more inclusive by funding projects like the East Anglia Youth Rowing programme, which supports schools including Coleridge Community College and North Cambridge Academy to get kids out on the water.”

Keith Garrett, captain of Cambridge ‘99 Rowing Club, added: “Cambridge ‘99 was founded 125 years ago with a mission to make rowing more fun and more inclusive. We welcomed dozens of new rowers to the club this summer, mostly people who had never tried the sport before.

“Many people row for fun and fitness, but we also do well on the national stage – our men’s and women’s squad captains this year both learned to row with us only a few years ago, but got to compete at the Henley regattas this summer.”

Cambridge Autumn Regatta Facts

⦁ Cambridge Regatta was first rowed in 1981.

⦁ Almost 400 total competitors with a nearly 50/50 split between men and women.

⦁ This is the first year that there will be octuples racing at Autumn Regatta.

⦁ Many other boat types racing – from the 62ft eights to the singles sculls.

⦁ 22 crews from all over southern England, including London, Oxford and Bedford

⦁ The youngest rower is 12 years old.

⦁ Oldest rowers are 65-70 years old.

⦁ 64 events in total with 159 races.

⦁ Races start at 8:30am and finish around 6pm