A most unusual Oxford vs Cambridge Universities Boat Race

Cambridge University in Great Britain took a double win ahead of Oxford University last weekend when their men’s and women’s crews won the University Boat Races in unusual surroundings.

The COVID pandemic forced the organisers to change venues to ensure social distancing, as more than 200,000 people usually throng the banks of the Thames in London. So this year’s races took place ‘behind closed doors’ on the River Great Ouse, 120km to the north-east, in the cathedral city of Ely.

The cancellation of last year’s event, and the lack of crew training time on the water, meant that both universities based their crew selection on those which should have raced in 2020.

The straight north-south 4.89km course used was 2000m shorter than the usual distance from Putney to Mortlake, but Cambridge were looking to extend their four-year run of success in the women’s race.

Sarah Tisdall, their Australian stroke, took them off at 48 strokes per minute and established a one third length lead over Oxford at 44. But within less than a minute the crews drew close as Oxford veered across before their coxswain Costi Levy, corrected. Despite repeated warnings from the umpire Judith Packer, Oxford continued to apply the pressure and the lead changed hands with Oxford half a boat length up at the halfway mark.

Nine minutes into the race there was still all to play for, as Cambridge drew alongside, with both crews at 34. Then Cambridge found another gear, raising the stroke rate to go on to win by just under a length in 16 mins 27 secs.

The men’s race had a woman umpire for the first time in 192 years. Olympian Sarah Winckless, herself a Boat Race winner for Cambridge, took charge of the flags to be the first woman umpire.

Oxford, had three returning athletes from the 2019 Boat Race, as well as the slight weight advantage over Cambridge of 1kg per man. But once again it was Cambridge who took the upper hand and repeated Oxford’s tactics in the women’s race, by attempting to push into the opposition’s water. Winckless was left hoarse after repeated warnings to Cambridge in which she included the ultimate sanction of calling the coxswain, Charlie Marcus, by name.

Five minutes into the race Oxford held their nerve and started to come back, narrowing the three-quarter length lead as Cambridge continued to send down lumpy water into their path. After 12 minutes just one third of a length separated the crews before Cambridge squeezed on the pressure, moving away to win by one length in 14 mins 12 secs.

Even when the world returns to some degree of normality next year, a return to the traditional course from Putney to Mortlake will not be possible. Near the halfway mark, Hammersmith Bridge has been deemed unsafe and is closed to road and river traffic while the authorities agree to a solution.

Already there is talk of the race relocating downstream to start in Westminster, in central London, and finish in Putney, to avoid the obstacle. This isn’t a straightforward solution – the course hasn’t been used for the Boat Race since 1842 and subsequent remodelling of the river banks has often made that stretch of the river unrowable.

Copy thanks to Robert Treharne Jones