Oxford power to victory

The Oxford crew

Oxford University powered their way to victory in the 151st Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. The dark blues from Oxford won by six seconds, a distance of two lengths, over Cambridge in a time of 16.42 on the Thames River in London, Great Britain.

Oxford, the heaviest crew in Boat Race history at 98.35kg a man on average, made a strong start and stroke Andy Hodge settled his crew into a steady and powerful rhythm.

"I sometimes think that I am the most boring rower you could think of," said Hodge afterwards.  "It was my job to set the rhythm. I had that one task and I stuck to it and the crew put on the power."

Cambridge, though, dug in to get back on almost level terms.

Oxford made a decisive break at Chiswick Steps, putting clear water between themselves and Cambridge and taking Cambridge's potential advantage on the final bend.

"That was a pretty critical moment for us." admitted Cambridge coach Robin Williams afterwards.

There was no way back for Cambridge after that point.

The Oxford crew (l) and the Cambridge crew (r) after passing under Hammersmith Bridge

Oxford went on to avenge their 2004 defeat in the third fastest time ever and no-one was more relieved than Oxford coxswain Acer Nethercott who still felt the mental scars of the clash a year ago when his bowman was knocked out of his seat and Cambridge went on to victory.

He said:  "We won it from the very first stroke. It didn't feel like it until the Chiswick Steps area, because they [Cambridge] did a really good job of hanging on to our coat tails.  It was just awesome today – I had eight complete goliaths."

Oxford coach Sean Bowden said:  "We kept quiet and put all of our efforts into our preparations. We had it won from the very first stroke. Cambridge were good but we got better and better with every stroke."

Australian Tom Edwards, rowing for Cambridge, said: "They were just too strong for us around that bend. We pushed and pushed and pushed, but it wasn't enough to come back on terms. I was really proud of the effort we put in, we went down fighting."

Today's victory means that Oxford have closed down Cambridge's lead in the overall series to 78-72 in an event which began in 1829.

Over the past five years Oxford have won three times and Cambridge twice.

The date of next year's Boat Race will be established over the next three months and will be announced through this bulletin and on www.theboatrace.org

Finish Time
Oxford: 16.42
Cambridge: 16.48

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