The racing takes place on the Isis (part of the River Thames), usually in the 7th week of Hilary Term on four successive days from Wednesday to Saturday (around the start of March).

The Head of the River is awarded the Torpids Challenge Cup, presented to the OUBC by President T.C.

This is the principal difference in the rules between Torpids and Summer Eights, where both crews stop racing.

[3] Commonly a cox will concede a bump, signalled by raising an arm, rather than waiting to be hit.

The status of the event – still adjudged below that of Summer Eights on account of the absence of rowers in the Varsity boat races – only began to rise at the very end of the nineteenth century, when colleges began to form first boats to compete.

[5] The "Double Headship" is an accolade of any college finishing with their men's and women's crews at the "Head of the River".

Owing to the differences in rules between Torpids and Lent Bumps at the University of Cambridge this achievement is only possible at Oxford.