About the Club
Club Traditions: The 2nd VIII Song
Perhaps one of our finest club traditions, if not the most long standing, is that of the 2nd May VIII composing a little ditty to be performed at the Mays Dinner! Every one of these melodic masterpieces is preserved for posterity from right back to 1997, video and audio recordings are available of 2019, 2023 and 2024 please request these from the webmaster if you are interested.
There was no song in 2020 due to Covid. In 2021 the song was performed by NM1 following the conclusion of June's Eights Regatta.
Note that some of the lyrics have been modified slightly to ensure suitability for all audiences. To view the original explicit versions, please log in as a First and Third member.
The beginning, an introduction to the tradition, by Justin Sawon.
Year 2025
| bow | Toby Ng | 2 | Hugo Woodhouse |
| 3 | Oscar Allen | 4 | Archie Bentham |
| 5 | Patrick Fleming | 6 | Thomas Gaertner |
| 7 | Daniel Edwards-Medic | str | Luke Barratt |
Coxed by: Will Whitton
Results: Up 3 - Bumped Jesus II, Homerton and Corpus
The Song: M2: The Musical
Year 2024
| bow | George Moger-Taylor | 2 | Toby Collins |
| 3 | Andrew Farquharson | 4 | Thomas Gaertner |
| 5 | Bogdan Zviazhynski | 6 | Luke Barratt |
| 7 | Andrey Karailiev | str | Krisztian Hunter |
Coxed by: Nithyani Anandakugan
Results: Stayed level - Bumped Downing II, bumped by Jesus II
The Song: FaT M2
Year 2023
| bow | Igor Medvedev | 2 | Andrew Farquharson |
| 3 | Toby Collins | 4 | Bogdan Zviazhynski |
| 5 | Thomas Gaertner | 6 | Jos Higgins |
| 7 | Andrey Karailiev | str | Krisztian Hunter |
Coxed by: Connor Wood
Results: Up 4 - Bumped Darwin and Sidney Sussex, bumped by Jesus II and St. Catharine's II
The Song: Waxed Up Boats
Year 2022
| bow | Mattis Prince | 2 | Máté Fehér |
| 3 | Krisztian Hunter | 4 | Bogdan Zviazhynski |
| 5 | Sebastian Malik | 6 | Alexander Dent |
| 7 | Isaac Flanagan | str | Matthew Yoko |
Coxed by:
Emily Man
Coached by:
Peter Ford, Matthew Griffiths
Results: Stayed level - Bumped Jesus II, bumped by Clare II
The Song: Bumps Star
Year 2021
| bow | Callum Westwood | 2 | Oliver Friend-Smith |
| 4 | Leo Versteegen | 5 | Ruward Mulder |
| 6 | Xander Povey | 7 | Jos Higgins |
| str | Mihailo Milosevic |
Results: Raced 4 rounds: Win (4 lengths) in the 4th round
The Song: Ra Ra First and Third
Year 2019
| bow | Shavindra Jayasekera | 2 | Luke Barratt |
| 3 | Robert Moerman | 4 | Jamie Bell |
| 5 | Samuel Kittle | 6 | Alessandro Angelico |
| 7 | Petr Dolezal | str | Mihkel Kama |
Coxed by: Kerem Ergene
Results: Rowed Over
The Song: One Div More
Year 2018
| bow | Christopher Elsby | 2 | Robert Shearme |
| 3 | Edward Erelt | 4 | Jamie Bell |
| 5 | Petr Dolezal | 6 | Dohun Lee |
| 7 | Matthew Walker | str | Aaron Lewis |
Coxed by: Kerem Ergene
Results: Down 3 - Bumped by Pembroke II, Darwin and Emmanuel II
The Song: Rowing Story
Year 2017
| bow | Dohun Lee | 2 | Tom Wilson |
| 3 | Edward Erelt | 4 | Aaron Lewis |
| 5 | Alexander Dear | 6 | Robert Shearme |
| 7 | Matthew Griffiths | str | Jiri Kucera |
Coxed by: Rachel Grewcock
Results: Up 1 - Bumped Clare II and Darwin, bumped by Sidney Sussex
The Song: Let Us Row
Year 2016
| bow | Petr Dolezal | 2 | Marcus Roberts |
| 3 | Christopher Elsby | 4 | Ben Jarman |
| 5 | Peter Lau | 6 | Matthew Crowe |
| 7 | Forbes Anderson | str | Jonathan Williams |
Coxed by: Emily Gordon
Results: Down 3 - Bumped by Downing II, Corpus and Clare II
The Song: Hold It Up Buttercup
Year 2015
| bow | Neil Ibata | 2 | Matt Crouch |
| 3 | Connor Mui | 4 | Ed Bryant |
| 5 | John Grenfell-Shaw | 6 | Tom King |
| 7 | Jake Rowe | str | Barney Plummer |
Coxed by: Liv Godwin
Results: Up 1 - Bumped Christ's II and Downing II, bumped by Wolfson
The Song: Do You See The Second Eight?
Year 2014
| bow | John Grenfell-Shaw | 2 | William Gao |
| 3 | Declan Gorey | 4 | Rob Stroud |
| 5 | S-F. Dumitru | 6 | Matt Crouch |
| 7 | Alex Strange | str | Steven Evans |
Coxed by: Seema Syeda
Results: Down 3 - Bumped by Jesus II, Hughes Hall and Darwin
The Song: We Will Bump You
Year 2013
| bow | Blaise Sturley | 2 | Simon Smart |
| 3 | John Grenfell-Shaw | 4 | Matt Crouch |
| 5 | Sean Collins | 6 | Steven Evans |
| 7 | Peter Ford | str | Jonathan Williams |
Coxed by: Nick Wright
Results: Down 4 - Bumped by LMBC II, Caius II, St. Edmund's and Christ's II
The crew varied between days: the 7 seat was occupied by Peter Ford (W/S), Richard Fletcher (T), and Tae-Joon Cho (F); the stroke was either Jonathan Williams (W/F/S), or Peter Ford (T); and the cox was Nick Wright (W) or Alex Manion (T/F/S). Fletcher, Cho and Wright were not at the dinner, so did not sing the song.
The Song: Rowing on a Prayer
Year 2012
| bow | Josh Mills | 2 | Steven Evans |
| 3 | James Scott-Brown | 4 | Sam Jackson |
| 5 | Steven Karp | 6 | Simon Smart |
| 7 | Tae-Joon Cho | str | Peter Rowley |
Coxed by: Ellie Collins
Results: Down 4 - Bumped by Girton, Homerton, Peterhouse and Selwyn
The Song: We're Rowing Home
Year 2011
| bow | Aaron Outhwaite | 2 | Jacob Day |
| 3 | Tae-Joon Cho | 4 | Yimin Ge |
| 5 | Alex Barrell | 6 | Thomas O'Neill |
| 7 | Simon Smart | str | Gonzalo Garcia |
Coxed by: Penelope Jenkins
Results: Down 4 - Bumped by Christ's, Churchill, Robinson and Downing II
Year 2010
| bow | Aaron Outhwaite | 2 | Andrew Lewis |
| 3 | Paul Masset | 4 | C.S. Dunleavy |
| 5 | Hannes Malmberg | 6 | Gonzalo Garcia |
| 7 | Peter Leach | str | Philipp Preiss |
Coxed by: Emma Smith
Results: Stayed level - Bumped Churchill, bumped by King's
The Song: Last Night of the Bumps (Outhwaite, Malmberg)
Year 2009
| bow | Jonathan Main | 2 | Pedro Salgård Cunha |
| 3 | Justus Kebschull | 4 | Paul Masset |
| 5 | Hannes Malmberg | 6 | Thomas McTiernan |
| 7 | Peter Ford | str | Gonzalo Garcia |
Coxed by: Hans Liu
Results: Down 1 - Bumped by Magdalene
Retained the 2nd VIII headship
The Song: The Winner Takes It All
Year 2008
| bow | Will Laffan | 2 | Peter Ford |
| 3 | Tom Andrews | 4 | Albert Cheung |
| 5 | Dan Jane | 6 | Grzegorz Milos |
| 7 | Sebastian Pancratz | str | Tom Coker |
Coxed by: Emma Salgård Cunha
Results: Stayed level - Bumped Robinson, bumped by Fitzwilliam
The Song: Yellow submarine
Year 2007
| bow | Stephan Christian Mertes | 2 | John Kiely |
| 3 | Robert Patterson | 4 | Martin Yarr |
| 5 | Sam Lings | 6 | Philipp Preiss |
| 7 | Laurence Carr | str | Andrew Lewis |
Coxed by: Lilie Weaver
Results: Up 3 - Bumped Caius II, Magdalene and Christ's
Gained the 2nd VIII headship, occupying the highest position since 1959
The Song: We will rise (Carr/Kiely/Lewis/Lings/Mertes/Patterson/Preiss/Weaver/Yarr)
Year 2006
| bow | Tom Andrews | 2 | C.S. Dunleavy |
| 3 | Robert Patterson | 4 | Henrik Latter |
| 5 | Will Laffan | 6 | Grzegorz Milos |
| 7 | Sebastian Pancratz | str | Albert Cheung |
Coxed by: Jenny Lee
Results: Stayed level - Bumped Selwyn, bumped by Caius II
Retained 1st division status
The Song: Eight men (Dunleavy)
Year 2005
| bow | Tom Andrews | 2 | Richard Bullock |
| 3 | John Earl | 4 | Albert Cheung |
| 5 | Sebastian Pancratz | 6 | H. S. Colvin |
| 7 | Rob Andrews | str | Graham Sills |
Coxed by: Andy Wong
Results: Up 2 - Bumped Caius II and Peterhouse
Bumped into the 1st division and gained the 2nd VIII headship.
The Song: Help! (Andrews)
Year 2004
| bow | Mark Sankey | 2 | Tom Coker |
| 3 | Chris Mycroft | 4 | Matthew Byrne |
| 5 | Bryn Garrod | 6 | Dan Newton |
| 7 | Daniel Walker | str | Will Thorne |
Coxed by: Jenny Lee
Results: Up 2 - Bumped Downing II and Fitzwilliam
The Song: We Are the Second May VIII (Byrne/Walker)
Year 2003
| bow | Mark Sankey | 2 | Tim Martin |
| 3 | Tom Coker | 4 | Robert Patterson |
| 5 | Graham Sills | 6 | Matthew Byrne |
| 7 | Matt Chamberlain | str | Will Thorne |
Coxed by: Rachel Munro
Results: Up 1 - Bumped Emmanuel II and Sidney Sussex, bumped by Peterhouse
The Song: Boat of Legends (Coker/Byrne/Sills/Thorne)
Year 2002
| bow | Daniel Walker | 2 | Maris Goldmanis |
| 3 | Matthew Byrne | 4 | Martin Peck |
| 5 | Dan Jane | 6 | H. W. Clouting |
| 7 | Will Thorne | str | Jon Davies |
Coxed by: Sam Adams
Results: Up 4 - Bumped Jesus II, LMBC II, Girton and Peterhouse
Blades!
The Song: Second VIII - Go-Go!! (Peck/Walker)
Year 2001
| bow | M. A. Watson | 2 | Julien Cazorla |
| 3 | A. R. E. Inch | 4 | H. W. Clouting |
| 5 | Daniel Walker | 6 | Jon Davies |
| 7 | James Roslington | str | John Mountain |
Coxed by: Chris Harding
Results: Down 6 - Bumped by Sidney Sussex, Emmanuel II, Caius II and Jesus II
The Song: Second VIII Rhapsody (Inch/Mountain/Walker)
Year 2000
| bow | A. D. Scott | 2 | Guy Taylor |
| 3 | Adrian Bevan | 4 | James Roslington |
| 5 | Andy Somers | 6 | Will Fletcher |
| 7 | Neil Talbott | str | John Were |
Coxed by: Ros Liu
Results: Down 3 - Bumped by Clare, Selwyn and Downing II
The Song: Maybe we're just a boat of perfectionists (Taylor/Fletcher)
Year 1999
| bow | Dennis Remoundos | 2 | Graham Fisher |
| 3 | Simon Blackburn | 4 | Mike Goodson |
| 5 | Rob Sherrington | 6 | Martin Peck |
| 7 | Chris Ingram | str | S. Case |
Coxed by: Kate MacGregor
Results: Up 3 - Bumped LMBC II, Clare and Sidney Sussex
Bumped into the 1st division and gained the 2nd VIII headship.
The Song: Cover our spoons (Blackburn/Fisher/Reilly)
Year 1998
| bow | Chris Ingram | 2 | Martin Peck |
| 3 | L. O. Robinson | 4 | Rich Dewire |
| 5 | Dominic Beary | 6 | Andy Pickard |
| 7 | Rob Sherrington | str | Jon Bevan |
Coxed by: Raf Carbonell
Results: Up 3 - Bumped Girton, Selwyn and Downing II
The Song: I vow to thee my Boat Club (Pickard)
Year 1997
| bow | Mike Orger | 2 | Paul Hacking |
| 3 | Andy Pickard | 4 | Matt Wallard |
| 5 | Andy Stewart | 6 | Rich Dewire |
| 7 | Justin Sawon | str | Clive Ponsonby |
Coxed by: Antony Mason
Results: Up 4 - Bumped King's, Jesus II, Corpus and Queens' II
Blades!
The Song: Row Hard (Sawon/Mason)
