Dark Blue power and rhythm prove too much for Cambridge as last year’s defeat is forgotten
“Our game plan was to go 100% all the way, and we executed it to perfection.” This was strokeman Andy Triggs Hodge’s summary of Oxford’s exceptional performance to win the 151st Boat Race. Up against an eight considered by the Cambridge camp to be their best ever crew, Oxford showed the value of performing on the day. They produced their most techincally efficient row of the season, allowing them to harness their huge power to defeat by two lengths a gutsy Cambridge crew that could not live with the Dark Blues’ devastating bursts of speed.
Oxford got off to an excellent start, setting up a powerful rhythm within the first five strokes. Cambridge, hindered by a messy first stroke in which Tom James’ oar missed the water, found themselves two-thirds of a length behind after 90 seconds. With their tidy rhythm established and the Middlesex Bend working to their advantage, they quickly recovered to make a long push to pull alongside Oxford by the Mile Post.
After two minutes of tense side by side rowing, Oxford made their move. With the long Surrey Bend looming, the Dark Blues put in a powerful burst through Hammersmith Bridge to gain a length lead. As the Surrey Bend began to work in Oxford’s favour, Cambridge were forced to sprint to avoid allowing Dark Blue cox, Acer Nethercott, to steer his eight directly in front of the Cambridge crew.
After allowing the Surrey Bend to drain the Light Blues’ energy for over four minutes, Oxford made the killer blow. At Chiswick Steps, they put in another massive burst; Cambridge, who had spent eight of the race’s ten minutes trying to claw back Dark Blue leads, found they had nothing left to give. 10:50 into the race, Nethercott had enough of a lead to cut across Cambridge – it was all over for the Light Blues. The Chiswick Bend they had hoped to use in the closing stages was rendered irrelevant: out in front, Oxford could take the same tight line the Light Blues would follow. Worse still, Cambridge were now rowing in Oxford’s wake, the balance and run of their boat upset by the dirty water stirred by the Dark Blue oars.
Though Cambridge maintained their technique admirably, Oxford could now see their opponents behind them as they stretched their lead to the finish. When an elated Oxford crew crossed the finish line, Cambridge were two lengths behind.
Robin Bourne-Taylor, Oxford’s President, said, “The key was the rhythm off the start. The boat felt really comfortable and this allowed us to turn on the pressure at decisive points.” Bernd Heidiger, Cambridge’s stroke, said that while his crew’s early rhythm was “nearly perfect. We were never comfortable, because we were always under pressure from Oxford”. Light Blue coach Robin Williams commended Oxford, saying, “Oxford rowed tactically extremely well. They kept pushing and pushing, and eventually we couldn’t hold them back any more. All credit to Oxford – we couldn’t have done any more.”
Just before the Blue Boat race, Cambridge’s reserve boat Goldie recorded a crushing five length victory over Isis, its Oxford counterpart. After an evenly matched start, Goldie settled into a cruising speed which was markedly quicker than Isis’. The Light Blues pulled away and, aside from a brief Isis fight back around the Surrey bend, never stopped extending their lead. Their time of 16:48 smashed ten seconds off the course record for the reserve race. Isis 6 man David Livingstone, a winner of the Blue Boat race in 2003, said, “We have to concede they were the better crew.”
ARCHIVE: 0th week TT 2005
Awesome Oxford break tabs
