Cambridge Overcome Odds to Repeat Boat Race Wins

Predictions before this year’s Oxford and Cambridge Boat Races suggested that Oxford were the favourites for the Women’s Boat Race and that while too close too call, Oxford perhaps had the stronger line-up for the men’s race too. However, anything can happen in The Boat Race, and it was “Light Blues” of Cambridge that were victorious on the day.

On a bright Spring day, London’s River Thames provided glorious conditions for the start of the 2024 Gemini Boat Races. The Women’s race was first to take to the water and, having lost the last six races, Oxford came into this year’s race with a new coach, Allan French, who was keen to put a stop to Cambridge’s domination. Indeed the fixtures leading up to the race suggested that his crew were easily the favourites, and they came into the race quietly confident. The Oxford crew flew off the start by Putney Bridge and took an early lead in the first stages of the race and by Hammersmith Bridge, they were on the brink of opening up clear water. However, it was then that the advantage of the bend in the river came into Cambridge’s favour, and they were able to close the gap and eventually start to draw level again.

The Cambridge crew really capitalised on the long bend on the “Surrey station” and took the lead back from Oxford. But then there was drama. Despite significant warnings to both crews from race Umpire, Richard Phelps, the Oxford cox, Joe Gellett, attempted to “bump” the Cambridge crew from behind, a manoeuvre which significantly disrupted his crews’ rhythm. The resulting action which was required by the Oxford crew enabled Cambridge to move away and the race was effectively over. Cambridge crossed the line by Chiswick Bridge with a seven length lead, the biggest margin since 2017. However, as soon as Oxford crossed the line, Gellet’s hand was raised to indicate a protest. Following a lengthy discussion with Umpire Phelps, the protest was overruled and the result was declared to stand, with Cambridge claiming their seventh consecutive win.

Speaking after the race, Hannah Murphy, Cambridge’s American cox said “Ultimately, I knew I was on my station. I could hear the Umpire warning Oxford back, but really, the best thing for us to do was just move out of that situation, so we just wanted to get out and get ahead as quickly as possible.”

An hour after the start of the women’s race, the two men’s “Blue Boats” were on the start line. Cambridge perhaps had the sharper of starts, but in the early stages, it was an exceptionally close race with Umpire Sir Matthew Pinsent being kept very busy warning “both crews move apart”. After the initial coming-together, Cambridge started to open up a slight lead, but Oxford certainly wasn’t letting them get away easily. At Hammersmith Bridge, Cambridge had established a 1/2 length lead and then started to move away, eventually establishing clear-water between them and the Oxford boat.

Having opened up a substantial lead, Cambridge’s strokeman, Matt Edge had clearly given it his all and was visibly struggling in the closing stages of the race and made a heroic effort to keep setting the rhythm for his crew while causing minimal disruption. This potentially allowed Oxford to close the gap slightly, but not enough to overcome Cambridge’s eventual win of 3.5 lengths. Edge, who had just won his second consecutive boat race, was quickly attended to by the medical team at the conclusion of the race and recovered sufficiently to join his crew in lifting the trophy.

It was also the second consecutive win for Cambridge’s President, Seb Benzecry who said after the race; “That was my last race with the Club, and it’s been four unbelievable years. Going into it, this was the biggest challenge we’ve had. That Oxford crew was a really, really classy unit, really good guys, so we knew we had to put a lot into it and push ourselves to a place where we very rarely go. But that was just the most unbelievable feeling.” 

There was a small amount of redemption for Oxford when they won the Women’s Reserve Race in convincing style, but the Men’s Reserve Race was shortly also won by Cambridge.