Book review: Blood Over Water

The story unfolds in a diary-like fashion switching between David and James in the year leading up to the 2003 Boat Race. During this time the brothers could barely handle speaking to each other as inter-university rivals grew.  Neither knew the other was keeping a diary so an idea for a book came much after the race was finished.

The brothers talk frankly about university life, their own lives, training and openly express their feelings about competing against each other. The intensity of the rivalry grows as the book progresses but always with an underlying feeling that there is still a brotherly bond.

Some of the most interesting insights come from the description of training and the brutality of selection trials to pick the top boat. The feeling coming directly from two individuals involved is an eye-opener even for those involved in top level sport.

As it is often said, the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race is different from other top rowing events. It is steeped in huge amounts of history so that every rowing crew has the hopes, not only of the entire university, but also those hopes of anyone who has ever attended the university especially former rowers. It attracts a large media interest with the top crew, often for the first time in their lives, having to get used to the glare of the limelight. There is also the difference in the length and makeup of the race – one-on-one for 6.8km.  

As a sports book this one is quite unique. It is taking just a small piece of the lives of two men in this first person style. It holds your interest and there is no temptation to skip any bits.