Following Friday's post 'Go Oxford' our treasured tutor and rowing expert, Kit Villiers, gives his Boat Race review:
"As usual on Boat Race Day I was glued to the TV screen. They've got so many cameras on the crews and around the Thames these days that the gladiatorial nature of this, one of the last truly amateur sporting contests, really comes to life. I thought Dan Topolski's commmentary was very fair: despite his very Oxford background he kept telling us how Cambridge were fighting back, and that the battle was never won until the final exhausting stroke, even though I don't personally believe Oxford were much threatened - especially after Barnes Bridge.
Talking of stroke, I'm sure a lot of the credit for Oxford's win must go to the stroke, the enormous Canadian Olympian Michael Howard. He didn't get much of a mention, but as the largest member of Oxford's crew he seemed to be bodily hauling them along. He looked really exhausted at the finish. He stroked the boat from bowside. The commentators pointed out the unusual nature of Cambridge's rig, with 4 and 5 on the same side for greater balance, but hardly mentioned this fact - i.e. that Oxford's rig was also unorthodox.
If you are wondering what I'm talking about, join us in Christ Church Meadow during Eights' Week at the end of May when the battle is between the Oxford colleges and not the two ancient universities. You'll get a full explanation then. Will the Oxford Blues turn out in May for their colleges? Some will think they've already taken too much time off their studies (training for the Boat Race is pretty full time), but I'm sure others will appear. I recall only a few years ago when Christ Church went Head of the River, they had at least 3 blues and 2 Olympic medallists on board; the medallists were those twins from Harvard who claimed to have helped start Facebook.
It might be worth mentioning in case you are wondering about the quality of the boat race crew, Oxford, in two of their warm up races held the British national eight and narrowly defeated the current Olympic champions.
Anyway well done to Oxford. But they're behind in the series, and we need a few more wins to catch up."
Oxford win, Sunday 31 March 2013
"As usual on Boat Race Day I was glued to the TV screen. They've got so many cameras on the crews and around the Thames these days that the gladiatorial nature of this, one of the last truly amateur sporting contests, really comes to life. I thought Dan Topolski's commmentary was very fair: despite his very Oxford background he kept telling us how Cambridge were fighting back, and that the battle was never won until the final exhausting stroke, even though I don't personally believe Oxford were much threatened - especially after Barnes Bridge.
Talking of stroke, I'm sure a lot of the credit for Oxford's win must go to the stroke, the enormous Canadian Olympian Michael Howard. He didn't get much of a mention, but as the largest member of Oxford's crew he seemed to be bodily hauling them along. He looked really exhausted at the finish. He stroked the boat from bowside. The commentators pointed out the unusual nature of Cambridge's rig, with 4 and 5 on the same side for greater balance, but hardly mentioned this fact - i.e. that Oxford's rig was also unorthodox.
If you are wondering what I'm talking about, join us in Christ Church Meadow during Eights' Week at the end of May when the battle is between the Oxford colleges and not the two ancient universities. You'll get a full explanation then. Will the Oxford Blues turn out in May for their colleges? Some will think they've already taken too much time off their studies (training for the Boat Race is pretty full time), but I'm sure others will appear. I recall only a few years ago when Christ Church went Head of the River, they had at least 3 blues and 2 Olympic medallists on board; the medallists were those twins from Harvard who claimed to have helped start Facebook.
It might be worth mentioning in case you are wondering about the quality of the boat race crew, Oxford, in two of their warm up races held the British national eight and narrowly defeated the current Olympic champions.
Anyway well done to Oxford. But they're behind in the series, and we need a few more wins to catch up."
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