In the Lent Bumps, the men's first VIII resided largely near the boundary of the 1st and 2nd divisions, but spent a few years in the top-10, reaching as high as 6th in the 1930s and in 1968, and more recently, peaking at 9th in 2002.

Between 1998 and 2004, the men's 1st VIII were bumped only once and rose to 2nd position, partially helped by having many oarsmen trialling for university crews, but St Catharine's have never yet taken a headship.

The first women's VIII first raced in 1980, and in the Lent Bumps have spent most of the time since 1990 in the 1st division, ranking as high as 6th in 1997, but had fallen into the 2nd in 2003 and 2006.

He was approached after the 1957 May Bumps by the captain of First and Third (A A M Mays-Smith), who felt that St Catharine's showed the most spirit and drive of those boat clubs without their own boathouse.

[2] In 2012, work began to renovate the boathouse, and the newly refurbished and extended boathouse was officially opened by the Master, Dame Jean Thomas, along with a long-time sponsor of the boat club, Herb Bate, on 16 March 2013.