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It is one race, one day, and everything is building up to that. | :00:46. | :00:52. | |
We can't let last year happen again. There is nothing else like it in | :00:52. | :00:56. | |
sport, where you spent seven months, and at the end of it, you either | :00:56. | :01:06. | |
win or lose. Each year, they come. It is man | :01:06. | :01:16. | |
:01:16. | :01:18. | ||
against man against water. Fishy is the tranquil, -- for she is the | :01:18. | :01:23. | |
tranquil and the Tempest, and upon her surface plays out the Twist And | :01:23. | :01:33. | |
:01:33. | :01:38. | ||
Turn of hero and villain. For she is the river. And this is her drama. | :01:38. | :01:42. | |
You spend your whole career dreaming about winning races like | :01:42. | :01:50. | |
the Boat Race. Knowing that if you lose, you have basically just | :01:50. | :01:59. | |
thrown away six months of your life. And that is what it means to the | :01:59. | :02:02. | |
rowers who today are out there on the River Thames and will bear not | :02:02. | :02:07. | |
just their muscles, but their souls. This is a unique event, based on | :02:07. | :02:11. | |
intense rivalry, tradition and on the honour. There is no prize-money | :02:11. | :02:15. | |
on offer. In any ordinary sporting event, second place might be a | :02:15. | :02:19. | |
respectable result, but here in the Boat Race, second place means you | :02:19. | :02:25. | |
have lost. Victory is everything. Defeat is crashing. It started in | :02:25. | :02:29. | |
1829, when Cambridge challenged Oxford to a rowing race on the | :02:29. | :02:33. | |
river and the. In 2012, the Xchanging Boat Race remains one of | :02:33. | :02:36. | |
the most watched and famous sporting events in the world. We | :02:36. | :02:40. | |
have a gorgeous day for it. The cloud is starting to clear, the son | :02:40. | :02:45. | |
try to come out. There is a slight headwind, but conditions are good. | :02:45. | :02:49. | |
This is a magnificent London occasion, the last great amateur | :02:49. | :02:52. | |
event, and it is all free. No tickets are required. That is why | :02:53. | :02:56. | |
so many people are lining the banks of the River Thames. Where | :02:56. | :02:59. | |
expecting over a quarter of a million of them for the four and a | :02:59. | :03:03. | |
quarter miles from Putney to Mortlake. The river pubs will be | :03:03. | :03:07. | |
doing a booming business. The tow paths will be packed and full of | :03:07. | :03:11. | |
family picnics and barbecues. As for the crews, they have waited and | :03:11. | :03:16. | |
waited for this day, trying to keep calm, to ignore the crowds and the | :03:16. | :03:19. | |
hoopla and the noise of the helicopter. But inside, their | :03:19. | :03:24. | |
stomachs will be churning. The defending champions are Oxford. But | :03:24. | :03:28. | |
Cambridge are the younger and heavier crew. Oxford are the | :03:28. | :03:34. | |
bookies' favourite. The key to this classic event is its simplicity. It | :03:35. | :03:41. | |
is the same course every year. Often the same crowds as well. The | :03:41. | :03:43. | |
same two crews in terms of Oxford and Cambridge, but very different | :03:43. | :03:49. | |
people, because they change every year. At some point, life has to be | :03:49. | :03:58. | |
lived for them, earning money in the real world. The race starts at | :03:58. | :04:01. | |
2:15pm and we aim to keep you entertained and informed between | :04:01. | :04:09. | |
now and then. He Oz Clarke and James may embark | :04:09. | :04:15. | |
on a very important liquid based reconnaissance mission. I think you | :04:15. | :04:19. | |
get more of the race from this spot than anywhere else on the Thames. | :04:19. | :04:24. | |
There is no reason why we should move from here. | :04:24. | :04:29. | |
The scars are slow to heal, as we look back on the famous Oxford | :04:29. | :04:34. | |
mutiny of 1987. It was made clear that we weren't going to row in | :04:34. | :04:39. | |
that line-up. Matthew Pinsent reveals the hidden | :04:39. | :04:44. | |
secrets beneath the surface of the Thames. The river is full, and the | :04:44. | :04:49. | |
deepest, fastest water is completely invisible. | :04:49. | :04:54. | |
And which are to be emotionally draining journey to the start-line. | :04:54. | :04:58. | |
Knowing that if you lose, you have basically thrown away six months of | :04:58. | :05:08. | |
:05:08. | :05:17. | ||
your life is a good reason not to -- be 158th Boat Race. Joining me | :05:18. | :05:22. | |
is Matthew Pinsent. I am the reserve umpire. If the umpire | :05:22. | :05:27. | |
should kilo but from food poisoning, I will be there. I will be | :05:27. | :05:34. | |
shadowing him and learning more about the roles. Hopefully, it will | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
be enjoyable and not stressful. those who might be tuning in, | :05:38. | :05:43. | |
saying, it is not a proper sporting event, you have won four gold | :05:43. | :05:48. | |
medals. Why does this matter? a proper sport event because it is | :05:48. | :05:52. | |
probably the last amateur event in the calendar. These guys do it for | :05:52. | :05:57. | |
no money, no reward other than the luxury of winning. And it is a | :05:57. | :06:02. | |
brutal physical test. You are unlikely to see a more exacting | :06:02. | :06:09. | |
test of a rower. This was you at the age of 19, baby face. That was | :06:09. | :06:15. | |
in 1990. My first race, which we went on to win. I remember being | :06:15. | :06:20. | |
incredibly nervous. It was very stressful. James Cracknell is here | :06:20. | :06:26. | |
as well, with whom you won two of your Olympic gold medals. James, | :06:26. | :06:32. | |
how do you view the event? You live locally. Aside from the Olympics, | :06:32. | :06:38. | |
it is the one time that rowing is on TV. And people grasp the | :06:38. | :06:42. | |
importance of it. It is the one day that these guys have the chance to | :06:42. | :06:47. | |
race. There is no heats, no semi. You have one chance to get it right. | :06:47. | :06:51. | |
How important is it to keep your temper but controlled and not get | :06:51. | :06:56. | |
too aggressive with the other side? That is the point. These guys might | :06:56. | :07:00. | |
have been training for the last two weeks, and suddenly they come down | :07:00. | :07:05. | |
and the tow path is 4, with that helicopter overhead. And Your TV | :07:05. | :07:09. | |
cameras are very close. It is a very different atmosphere on Boat | :07:09. | :07:15. | |
Race day. You want to replicate as much as you can knock on race day | :07:15. | :07:18. | |
as you have in your best training. If you can carry that through and | :07:18. | :07:22. | |
not be affected by the pressure, you will have success. Let me ask | :07:23. | :07:27. | |
you about the respective weights of the boat. Matthew, your crew in | :07:27. | :07:30. | |
1990 had the record deferential. Oxford were much heavier than | :07:31. | :07:35. | |
Cambridge. This year, Cambridge have the second biggest | :07:35. | :07:39. | |
differential, being much heavier. Why do the heavier crew have an | :07:39. | :07:44. | |
advantage? A good big one will always beat a good little one. It | :07:44. | :07:48. | |
is not like running or cycling where every bit of weight cows, | :07:48. | :07:57. | |
because you do hang off the oar handle. But Oxford are not small. | :07:57. | :08:01. | |
Their average height is my height, and they are a bit lighter than I | :08:01. | :08:08. | |
was. And Cambridge are a bit taller and heavier than I was. So it is | :08:08. | :08:12. | |
not like Amir Khan against one of the Klitschko Brothers. It is more | :08:13. | :08:17. | |
similar and the water is fairly friendly today. Let's look at the | :08:17. | :08:21. | |
course they will take, the four and a quarter miles, starting here at | :08:21. | :08:27. | |
Putney Bridge tidal Thames Water, past Craven Cottage, Fulham's | :08:27. | :08:32. | |
football ground, around the Surrey bend, which marks the two mile | :08:32. | :08:38. | |
point. Then under Barnes Bridge and down to the finish line, where | :08:38. | :08:44. | |
Cambridge set the record of 16 minutes and 19 seconds in 1998. Not | :08:44. | :08:48. | |
long after Hammersmith Bridge, that is where the reach the halfway | :08:48. | :08:52. | |
point across. It is a very popular spot to watch. There are a lot of | :08:52. | :08:57. | |
pubs in that area. I suspect they will be packed. That is where we | :08:57. | :09:00. | |
find Sonali Shah. I am behind the bar at the Black | :09:00. | :09:06. | |
Lion, one of five pubs along this stretch of the Bank in Hammersmith. | :09:06. | :09:11. | |
Landlord buzz cousins he has turned it into quite an event? Yes, we | :09:11. | :09:14. | |
realised there was not much happening along the river that was | :09:14. | :09:18. | |
a festival, so we have turned it into a festival with food courts | :09:18. | :09:22. | |
and we are raising money for charities, including for a baby | :09:22. | :09:27. | |
that is ill in hospital. These boys will be raising money for him. They | :09:27. | :09:32. | |
will be done a bit of face painting and things like that. You are bring | :09:32. | :09:38. | |
a bit of New Zealand here? Yes, a bit of Kiwi to make it a bit like | :09:39. | :09:43. | |
home. These boys do a lot of canoeing and stuff like that. | :09:43. | :09:48. | |
it in context for us, how big this days in terms of business? Is it | :09:48. | :09:52. | |
your busiest day of the year? Definitely. We take five to six | :09:52. | :09:57. | |
times the amount that we would normally take on a Saturday. It is | :09:57. | :10:02. | |
a very busy day. Which side will you be cheering on? I will be | :10:02. | :10:08. | |
cheering for Oxford, because our All Black captain was a scholar at | :10:08. | :10:16. | |
Oxford. Thank you very much. Time to find out which side of the river | :10:16. | :10:19. | |
the two boats will be rowing from, the Surrey side or the Middlesex | :10:19. | :10:24. | |
side. It is the all-important toss. Ladies and gentlemen, after all the | :10:24. | :10:28. | |
hard work and training these crews have put in, this bit comes down to | :10:28. | :10:33. | |
luck, a toss of the coin to decide which station they will start from, | :10:33. | :10:36. | |
Middlesex on the north side or Surrey on the south side, closest | :10:36. | :10:41. | |
to us. Joining me here on the podium, from the sponsors, | :10:41. | :10:45. | |
Xchanging, the global director of sales and marketing, Stephen Scott, | :10:45. | :10:50. | |
the executive director of the Boat Race company, David Searle, the | :10:50. | :10:54. | |
race umpire and the two President's for Oxford, Karl Hudspith and the | :10:54. | :10:58. | |
Cambridge, Dave Nelson. As history dictates, the winners from the | :10:58. | :11:05. | |
previous year toss the coin. The losers will call. Over to you, John. | :11:05. | :11:13. | |
Thanks very much, Clare. I have the 1829 1/2 sovereign. I will ask Karl | :11:13. | :11:22. | |
Hudspith to toss that and for Dave to call. Tales. The call is tails. | :11:22. | :11:26. | |
The coin has fallen down as tale's. Sir Dave has the choice. Which | :11:27. | :11:32. | |
station would you like? We will take Surrey. And a quick word from | :11:33. | :11:39. | |
you on the Cambridge crew. How is everyone? Feeling good. And calm? | :11:39. | :11:45. | |
Yeah, feeling good. Excellent. In terms of umpiring the race, what is | :11:45. | :11:49. | |
your major challenge? We will be looking at the wind. We have a | :11:49. | :11:53. | |
northerly wind at the moment, which is swinging a bit, so we have to | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
make sure the crews get off straight at the start. Then we | :11:56. | :12:00. | |
expect a light headwind as we are approaching Hammersmith Bridge. | :12:00. | :12:05. | |
it will be a tough race. We wish you both like and we hope for a | :12:05. | :12:15. | |
:12:15. | :12:17. | ||
clean race. Cambridge have won the toss and chosen Surrey. | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
The same choice as last year, when Oxford won the toss. They also | :12:21. | :12:25. | |
chose the Surrey side and were in control by Hammersmith Bridge. They | :12:25. | :12:35. | |
:12:35. | :12:51. | ||
went on to record a dominant Oxford here were hugely impressive. | :12:51. | :12:56. | |
Constantine Louloudis is now on the Olympic programme. Massive | :12:56. | :12:59. | |
celebrations earlier. It is one of those sporting events where it is | :12:59. | :13:05. | |
all about winning. You can see from the body language that you have to | :13:05. | :13:11. | |
continue, but it is a long way back for Cambridge. | :13:11. | :13:16. | |
The Boat Race. If you win, it hurts for minutes. If you lose, it hurts | :13:16. | :13:20. | |
for months. It is totally devastating when you get a result | :13:20. | :13:24. | |
like that. You have to just pull yourself together and say, what did | :13:24. | :13:29. | |
go well, and what can we do better? Cambridge's initial squad featured | :13:29. | :13:34. | |
three Blues hungry for revenge, including Mike Thorpe, who was | :13:34. | :13:42. | |
still haunted by the events of last March. I saw the fate of me and the | :13:42. | :13:49. | |
other two guys with me. We looked torn up, and I thought I needed to | :13:49. | :13:55. | |
come back this year. As in 2011, the Oxford coach's squad contains | :13:55. | :14:00. | |
just one returning blue, the club president, Karl Hudspith. Everyone | :14:00. | :14:05. | |
is motivated. I am the only guy who has won it before, so everyone else | :14:05. | :14:09. | |
is fighting for a first win. Powerful candidates are emerging | :14:09. | :14:14. | |
such as experienced rower Alex Davidson and American William Zeng. | :14:14. | :14:20. | |
It is nice to be at a university where rowing is the big thing. You | :14:20. | :14:24. | |
were properly and do not just do a little motion. Australian James | :14:24. | :14:30. | |
Ditzell turns 45 on race day. Cancer ruled him out of the 1992 | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
Olympics. He had not rowed competitively since. I have been so | :14:34. | :14:39. | |
long out of the boat, I really realised what I missed. I enjoy the | :14:39. | :14:45. | |
feel of the water under the boat. December's Trial eights were the | :14:45. | :14:50. | |
first Test on the Boat Race course. Two crews from the same university | :14:50. | :14:54. | |
doing battle, team-mates versus team mates. Cambridge were split | :14:54. | :14:58. | |
into two equally strong boats to forge match-racing instinct, | :14:58. | :15:01. | |
something the president felt had been lacking last year. Quickly, | :15:01. | :15:07. | |
each crew forms its own identity and rallies to beat their own team- | :15:07. | :15:13. | |
mates. Incredibly difficult conditions, really choppy water. | :15:13. | :15:18. | |
Both Cambridge crews are showing real aggression. They have called | :15:18. | :15:28. | |
:15:28. | :15:33. | ||
Cambridge seemed ready for the battle to come. The coach had three | :15:33. | :15:43. | |
:15:43. | :15:47. | ||
candidates for the Oxford cox seek. One of them was Oskar Zorrilla. | :15:47. | :15:54. | |
cox is not responsible for the emotional well-being of the rowers. | :15:54. | :16:04. | |
They like to think that, but it is not the case. Oskar Zorrilla | :16:04. | :16:10. | |
steered his boat to a comfortable victory. We have shown our | :16:10. | :16:13. | |
teammates, let's show Cambridge, because at the end of the day, that | :16:13. | :16:23. | |
is what is is all about. A lot of people are here down at the start. | :16:23. | :16:29. | |
Who are you supporting today? are supporting Oxford. Why? Because | :16:29. | :16:36. | |
we were at university there. know the President, Karl Hudspith. | :16:36. | :16:43. | |
Are you supporting Oxford? Yes, I am. We will see if we can find some | :16:43. | :16:51. | |
Cambridge supporters. We are supporting Cambridge. And why? | :16:51. | :16:57. | |
live nearby. Is this the first time you have been to the Boat Race? | :16:57. | :17:02. | |
it is the first time we have been down. Our friend lives just over | :17:02. | :17:11. | |
the road. Good luck to all of you. Lots of people come with friends, | :17:11. | :17:17. | |
they might know somebody in one of the crews, or they might have an | :17:17. | :17:21. | |
affiliation, but for some people, it is just an excuse for a pub | :17:21. | :17:31. | |
:17:31. | :17:34. | ||
crawl. When I say some people, I mean, specifically, Oz and James. | :17:34. | :17:41. | |
How the devil are you? How the devil are you, sir? Let's go and | :17:41. | :17:47. | |
plan our day. We are going to do the whole course. Shall we start in | :17:47. | :17:57. | |
:17:57. | :18:03. | ||
this very conveniently sited pub? So, what's the plan? Well, the Boat | :18:03. | :18:07. | |
Race is a monumental British institution. Somebody has described | :18:07. | :18:13. | |
it as the most brutal, harsh, uncompromising test of any sport. | :18:13. | :18:17. | |
It is actually a drinking festival with some boating thrown in. Well, | :18:18. | :18:21. | |
I think it is a boating festival with a massive amount of drinking | :18:21. | :18:28. | |
thrown in. Where was it you went to university? Oxford. Interest in. I | :18:28. | :18:33. | |
am just deciding that I am a Cambridge supporter. Without | :18:33. | :18:38. | |
colours nailed to our mast, we boarded our craft. There is a | :18:38. | :18:45. | |
little stone over there, called the University Stone, that's where | :18:45. | :18:51. | |
everything starts. There's thousands of stones. No, the rest | :18:52. | :18:57. | |
of them are parking bollards. I dragged the conversation around to | :18:57. | :19:03. | |
the issue of the day. We're going to the famous River Cafe, where | :19:03. | :19:13. | |
:19:13. | :19:17. | ||
Jamie Oliver used to work. No pie, no chips. No pies or chips or eggs | :19:17. | :19:27. | |
or ham. Wow! That has got a slight... Very acidic and very | :19:27. | :19:36. | |
fresh armpit, sweat sort of quality. The north of Italy has got lots of | :19:36. | :19:40. | |
red grapes, and the middle of Italy has got lots of more rare, red | :19:41. | :19:47. | |
grapes. Wow! That's fantastic. Would you like to try so with your | :19:47. | :19:55. | |
risotto? Is that all he gets? have got the bottle. I think that | :19:56. | :20:01. | |
was tremendous, very sophisticated, very modern, very contemporary. But | :20:01. | :20:11. | |
:20:11. | :20:14. | ||
how about a pint in the Dove? That's my wine. Is it? This is a | :20:15. | :20:20. | |
tiny pub, it is ancient, all sorts of fascinating people came here | :20:20. | :20:25. | |
like Graham Greene, and the bloke who wrote rule Britannia, what was | :20:25. | :20:35. | |
:20:35. | :20:40. | ||
The interesting thing, I think, is, the Middlesex bank is the best side | :20:40. | :20:47. | |
for people to watch the Boat Race, Hammersmith is the best spot, the | :20:47. | :20:52. | |
Dove is the best pub, and this terrace is the best part of the | :20:52. | :21:00. | |
Dove. You're absolutely right. I think you get more of the race from | :21:00. | :21:05. | |
this spot here than anywhere else on the River Thames. There's | :21:05. | :21:09. | |
absolutely no reason now why we should move from here. This is as | :21:09. | :21:19. | |
:21:19. | :21:22. | ||
And those two were fairly hard to move from that spot, but move them | :21:22. | :21:31. | |
we did. Now, rowing was included in the Paralympic Games for the first | :21:31. | :21:39. | |
time in 2008. And here today, for the first time, a race in the | :21:40. | :21:43. | |
the first time, a race in the adaptive rowing category. They are | :21:43. | :21:53. | |
:21:53. | :21:58. | ||
racing against an able body crew. The adaptive four with a distinct | :21:58. | :22:07. | |
advantage coming towards the finish, and they were the winners. Here's | :22:07. | :22:12. | |
Sonali. I'm joined by world Sonali. I'm joined by world | :22:12. | :22:15. | |
champions in the mixed coxed four. Congratulations - what does it feel | :22:15. | :22:20. | |
like to have won a race here on the River Thames on Boat Race day? | :22:20. | :22:25. | |
Absolutely epic, such a fantastic experience. To be here, deeply | :22:25. | :22:31. | |
involved in what is going on on this special day, it is pretty good. | :22:31. | :22:36. | |
It gets everybody watching a little bit of adaptive rowing. Yes, that's | :22:36. | :22:39. | |
one of the things we have been trying to do over the past few | :22:39. | :22:44. | |
years, building up the public's opinion of what adaptive rowing is | :22:44. | :22:48. | |
all about. I think we are the closest of the categories within | :22:48. | :22:54. | |
adaptive rowing to the able body rowers, in the fact that we have | :22:54. | :23:00. | |
minimal disabilities, our boat is not adapted in any way. Dave, I was | :23:01. | :23:04. | |
reading about your story, incredible, a couple of years ago | :23:04. | :23:09. | |
you had a tumour removed from your spinal column, you did loads of | :23:09. | :23:13. | |
intense rehab, came back as world champion - what would it mean for | :23:13. | :23:16. | |
you to qualify for the Paralympic Games this year? It would mean | :23:16. | :23:21. | |
everything. Taking part today in one of the oldest sporting events | :23:21. | :23:24. | |
in the world, it gives you a taste of what the Olympics in London will | :23:24. | :23:29. | |
be like. The closer it gets, the more it means to me. It will mean | :23:29. | :23:35. | |
the world to me after all my rehab. Good luck to both of you in your | :23:35. | :23:41. | |
attempt to qualify for London 2012. A could start to the day, something | :23:41. | :23:48. | |
for the many fans to enjoy. And we will be showing you highlights of | :23:48. | :23:56. | |
the Isis Goldie race later on. I am joined now by Andrew Triggs-Hodge | :23:56. | :24:04. | |
and Tom James. Very, very different, this, but both of you have | :24:04. | :24:09. | |
experienced it - Tom, first of all, what was it like for you, the Boat | :24:09. | :24:15. | |
Race? It was quite stressful, but I was there for four years, I | :24:15. | :24:20. | |
competed in four boat races, lost the first three, but finally house | :24:20. | :24:25. | |
my last one, as President. So I have got good memories of it. It | :24:25. | :24:32. | |
was fantastic. And Andrew Triggs- Hodge, you represented Cambridge, | :24:32. | :24:36. | |
there is nothing glamorous about this sport, you do not get somebody | :24:36. | :24:41. | |
else to carry your boat down to the river, you do it yourself. Andrew | :24:41. | :24:51. | |
Triggs-Hodge, you won, didn't you? Yes, in 2005. Memories I will take | :24:51. | :24:55. | |
away for a long, long time. What are they thinking and feeling right | :24:55. | :25:00. | |
now? You want to just be focused on your boat, getting the boat in the | :25:00. | :25:05. | |
water, just keep calm and relaxed, you want to enjoy the event, and | :25:05. | :25:09. | |
look at the people around, but at the same time, you need to be | :25:09. | :25:12. | |
focused on what you're going to be doing to win the race, that first | :25:12. | :25:18. | |
stroke. You cannot get too carried away. You could see the one with | :25:18. | :25:28. | |
:25:28. | :25:30. | ||
the big beard, Steve Dudek, who would have now regards it as one of | :25:30. | :25:36. | |
his strengths, being so hairy! me, the buzz of the helicopter | :25:36. | :25:44. | |
brings back a lot of memories. It is a very emotional day. To go up | :25:44. | :25:49. | |
is a very emotional day. To go up to this level, it is a big step. | :25:49. | :25:57. | |
Andrew, was Steve Bowden your coach when you were at Oxford? Yes, he | :25:57. | :26:01. | |
when you were at Oxford? Yes, he was. Does he say anything this | :26:01. | :26:07. | |
close to the race? He is a very focused man, he will usually say | :26:07. | :26:11. | |
everything a couple of days before the race. Just before the race he | :26:11. | :26:16. | |
will just remind us of what we have done, bringing out the confidence | :26:16. | :26:19. | |
of the crew, reminding us why we are a good crew. So he does not | :26:19. | :26:25. | |
have to say very much. You can feel that he is bristling with | :26:25. | :26:29. | |
confidence, he just has to make sure that we're going in the right | :26:29. | :26:35. | |
direction, he rarely leaves it to the crew to get on with it. For the | :26:35. | :26:43. | |
Cambridge coach, he has got an awful lot to put right from last | :26:43. | :26:49. | |
year. Yes, but looking back on it, within the boat, they were happy | :26:49. | :26:52. | |
they had done everything they could do to win the race. Obviously they | :26:52. | :26:57. | |
were not anywhere near Oxford's standard last year. So he will be | :26:57. | :27:01. | |
feeling some pressure this year, but he is a good coach. Hopefully | :27:01. | :27:09. | |
they will put it right this year. The crews are lining up inside | :27:09. | :27:14. | |
their respective boat houses. And it is now time for them to take to | :27:14. | :27:18. | |
the water. Ladies and gentlemen, these are the 17 men and one woman | :27:18. | :27:23. | |
who will contest the Boat Race. For Oxford, their first female cox | :27:23. | :27:30. | |
since 2000, she is 24 years old, studying for a doctorate of medical | :27:30. | :27:39. | |
science at St Katharine's College, Zoe de Toledo! For Cambridge, a cox | :27:39. | :27:43. | |
who turned 19 only yesterday, he left Radley College last year and | :27:43. | :27:49. | |
is studying for a Bachelor of the arts in natural sciences at | :27:49. | :27:58. | |
Pembroke College, Ed Bosson! And for Oxford, at bow, his tenth year | :27:59. | :28:04. | |
at the University, he is now at Pembroke College studying graduate | :28:04. | :28:14. | |
entry medicine, Dr Alexander Woods. For Cambridge at bow, the President, | :28:14. | :28:24. | |
:28:24. | :28:25. | ||
Dave Nelson, from Brisbane, Australia. At two, for Oxford, from | :28:25. | :28:31. | |
Virginia, a graduate of Yale, studying for computer science at | :28:31. | :28:40. | |
Oriel College, William Zeng. At two for the Light Blues, a man who | :28:40. | :28:50. | |
:28:50. | :28:50. | ||
learned to row at Oxford, he is studying medicine at Fitzwilliam | :28:50. | :28:57. | |
College, Moritz Schramm. At three for Oxford, another experienced | :28:57. | :29:07. | |
:29:07. | :29:08. | ||
rower, from Trinity College, and Washington DC, Kevin Baum. Next, | :29:08. | :29:13. | |
for Cambridge, a man who has survived being struck by lightning, | :29:13. | :29:23. | |
:29:23. | :29:26. | ||
studying Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, Jack Lindeman. Next, for | :29:26. | :29:30. | |
Oxford, studying developmental Biology at Christchurch, Alex | :29:30. | :29:38. | |
Davidson! At four for Cambridge, another of their crew who first | :29:38. | :29:42. | |
learnt to row at university, he has played tennis and water polo for | :29:42. | :29:51. | |
his native New Zealand, Alex Ross. Now, for the President of Oxford, | :29:51. | :29:55. | |
at number 5, their only returning boo, the only one who knows what | :29:55. | :30:00. | |
victory feels like, he comes from Twickenham, from St Peter's College, | :30:00. | :30:06. | |
Oxford, Karl Hudspith! His opposite number has not cut his hair since | :30:06. | :30:10. | |
this day last year, he is the vice- president for Cambridge, reading | :30:11. | :30:19. | |
history, he hails from Chester, Mike Thorp. At four for Oxford, a | :30:19. | :30:23. | |
German international who's planning this to be his final race, after 15 | :30:23. | :30:28. | |
years of rowing. He has a doctorate in law and is now studying for an | :30:28. | :30:37. | |
MSc in geography, Hanno Wienhausen. At number 6 for Cambridge, the | :30:37. | :30:45. | |
tallest and heaviest man in either crew, originally from Wisconsin, | :30:45. | :30:55. | |
:30:55. | :30:59. | ||
At seven for Oxford, stepping up from the lightweight crew, he is 25 | :30:59. | :31:07. | |
and from Taunton and studying in computational biology, Dan Harvey! | :31:07. | :31:12. | |
His opposite number for Cambridge is an Australian who has competed | :31:12. | :31:17. | |
internationally at under 23 and junior level. He is studying law at | :31:17. | :31:20. | |
St Edmund's College, Alexander Scharp! | :31:20. | :31:27. | |
For Oxford, the first Dutchman ever to stroke a blue boat under 29 the | :31:27. | :31:37. | |
:31:37. | :31:38. | ||
oldest man in the race this year, he is from Rotterdam. Roel Haen! | :31:38. | :31:42. | |
And at stroke for Cambridge, a graduate from the University of | :31:42. | :31:49. | |
Washington who is now reading history. Niles Garratt! | :31:49. | :31:53. | |
They train for six hours a day, six days a week, for six months to take | :31:53. | :31:58. | |
part in this. Ladies and gentlemen, the two crews for the 2012 Boat | :31:58. | :32:08. | |
:32:08. | :32:15. | ||
I am here out on the water with Wayne Pommen, one of our | :32:16. | :32:20. | |
commentators. What do you remember about those nervous moments as you | :32:20. | :32:23. | |
push away from the Putney sure? is just such a relief to get out on | :32:23. | :32:28. | |
the water. You may remember from your rowing career that those | :32:28. | :32:30. | |
minutes beforehand seemed like hours. You can't wait to get out | :32:30. | :32:34. | |
there. You know what you are doing on the water. The Boat Race is the | :32:34. | :32:40. | |
worst, because thousands of people are there. Cameras are in your face. | :32:40. | :32:43. | |
Even international rowing is not like that. So these guys can't wait | :32:43. | :32:47. | |
to get in their bubble. They have about 40 minutes now before the | :32:47. | :32:54. | |
race. How do they split that time up? They will have warm-up routines, | :32:54. | :33:00. | |
getting physically and mentally ready. Let's have a word about the | :33:00. | :33:05. | |
conditions. What do you think about the weather and the river today? | :33:05. | :33:08. | |
is pretty benign. There is a 10 mile an hour when from the north- | :33:08. | :33:11. | |
west, but I do not see it being a factor. | :33:11. | :33:15. | |
So it sounds as if conditions should not be a factor for either | :33:15. | :33:24. | |
side. James Cracknell is with us here. Who is going to win this? | :33:24. | :33:28. | |
think Oxford's history over the last few years will be in their | :33:28. | :33:35. | |
favour. The bow and stroke of the Cambridge side are both being on | :33:35. | :33:40. | |
the same side means the Bowes have to travel further. That is not good. | :33:40. | :33:46. | |
They are using a tandem wigging system, as Oxford did last year. | :33:46. | :33:56. | |
:33:56. | :33:56. | ||
Yes, I do not think you really need that. The person nearer the blow | :33:56. | :34:01. | |
karts keep in time. Matt Pinsent's first boat, he rowed in a tandem, | :34:01. | :34:06. | |
and it was all tied to the person in front, so he stayed in time. A | :34:06. | :34:12. | |
normal rigged boat is better. Now, obviously with every outside | :34:12. | :34:16. | |
sporting event, it does depend on the weather whether it is to make | :34:16. | :34:22. | |
the greens softer in the Masters at Augusta or in the Grand National at | :34:22. | :34:26. | |
Aintree. But here, if the weather turns nasty, that course turns into | :34:26. | :34:36. | |
:34:36. | :34:41. | ||
a real beast. It seems that we are moving into | :34:41. | :34:47. | |
some dramatic, Wagnerian... word! An enormous car but under. | :34:48. | :34:54. | |
years ago, there was an almighty storm and there had also been | :34:54. | :34:58. | |
behind the scenes in the Oxford camp. Andrew Cotter tells the story | :34:58. | :35:03. | |
of the 1987 mutiny. The Boat Race - tradition, honour, | :35:03. | :35:09. | |
sportsmanship. The Americans staged a mutiny. Mutiny is in the eye of | :35:09. | :35:14. | |
the beholder. In two became warfare. 1987, a race so dramatic that they | :35:14. | :35:19. | |
even made a film of it. This isn't your Boat Race, it is all of ours. | :35:19. | :35:26. | |
25 years on, have the scars healed? After ten years of domination, | :35:27. | :35:33. | |
Oxford's humiliating seven-length defeat in 1986 led to coach Dan | :35:33. | :35:37. | |
Topolski bringing world-class American athletes. Everybody was | :35:37. | :35:43. | |
genuinely excited to come over here and take part in one of the great | :35:43. | :35:46. | |
sporting events in the world. the world class training facilities | :35:46. | :35:50. | |
that the visitors were used to were absent from the amateur realm of | :35:50. | :35:55. | |
the Boat Race. The team didn't have its own boat house or its own boats. | :35:55. | :35:58. | |
Half the training were spent in a van, driving around the British | :35:58. | :36:07. | |
countryside. There was an incident at Radley School, where the whole | :36:07. | :36:11. | |
squad, the president included, refused to go out for a second | :36:11. | :36:19. | |
outing. Let's go out. Dan, we have done enough. | :36:19. | :36:25. | |
That was the moment of mutiny, if you like, where they just piled | :36:25. | :36:33. | |
into the training van and drove off. I thought, this is just not fun. I | :36:33. | :36:38. | |
am not getting paid for this. Where is the goodwill? That was wrong of | :36:38. | :36:44. | |
us to do. Simple as that. But what led up to that was an infuriating | :36:44. | :36:48. | |
couple of months of logistical chaos. It makes no sense, all this | :36:48. | :36:54. | |
pedalling around in that a ban from one boat house to another. It is | :36:54. | :36:57. | |
not getting us anywhere. We thought we were being honest in raising our | :36:57. | :37:01. | |
hands and walking to the front of the class and saying, teacher, we | :37:01. | :37:05. | |
have an issue with the way you are conducting the class. Particularly | :37:05. | :37:10. | |
at Oxford, deeply steeped in tradition. Tensions were | :37:10. | :37:13. | |
intensified by the decision about who would be in the boat on the big | :37:13. | :37:21. | |
day. In particular, the inclusion of club president Donald Macdonald. | :37:21. | :37:26. | |
I choose based on performance, and Donald Macdonald's performances | :37:26. | :37:32. | |
were consistently top. He named this wacky line-up. The majority of | :37:32. | :37:39. | |
the blue boat rowers did not seek the sense or even the rationale in | :37:39. | :37:43. | |
Dan's selection. There is disagreement over how the crew is | :37:43. | :37:51. | |
run and the fairness of it. Were you obligated to Donald as the | :37:51. | :38:01. | |
:38:01. | :38:02. | ||
president of the Boat Club? In no way. It was made clear to Donald | :38:02. | :38:07. | |
that we would not roll in that line-up. The Americans staged a | :38:07. | :38:16. | |
mutiny. They have excluded themselves from the squad. | :38:16. | :38:21. | |
became popularised in the press. And in Dan's book, it was said to | :38:21. | :38:26. | |
be an American issue. That could not have been further from the case. | :38:26. | :38:31. | |
There is a lot of stuff in that book that is wrong. It is | :38:31. | :38:39. | |
embellished and ultimately very hurtful where it did not need to be. | :38:39. | :38:44. | |
In the book, everything was my recollection. Four Americans | :38:44. | :38:50. | |
withdrew. In came reserve rowers. And like a Hollywood movie, the | :38:50. | :38:55. | |
underdogs claimed an unlikely victory. They won, and it was | :38:55. | :39:01. | |
fantastic, against the odds. And I thought, what was all for? It was a | :39:01. | :39:06. | |
shame we could not all figure out how to focus on the things that we | :39:06. | :39:14. | |
held in common. It was the most extraordinary story | :39:14. | :39:19. | |
and a real clash of temperaments. It made for a very exciting race, | :39:19. | :39:25. | |
film and book. Katherine Grainger, Britain's most successful female | :39:25. | :39:31. | |
rower, has joined me. How important is that relationship between coach | :39:31. | :39:35. | |
and rower, and how much do they have to respect your intellect and | :39:35. | :39:38. | |
experience as well as sometimes telling you things you don't want | :39:38. | :39:47. | |
to hear? The relationship is crucial. There needs to be mutual | :39:47. | :39:50. | |
respect in the partnership. Like you said, you will have to hear | :39:50. | :39:57. | |
things that you will not always want to hear. But they will be the | :39:57. | :40:01. | |
person who will tell you that you need to be better. But it is a two- | :40:01. | :40:05. | |
way thing. If there is respect on both sides, you bring out the best | :40:05. | :40:11. | |
in each other. Andrew, the difficulty with the Boat Race is, | :40:11. | :40:15. | |
you are talking about a multinational crew. It is not new | :40:15. | :40:21. | |
rowing for one country. Absolutely. We had Canadians and Americans and | :40:21. | :40:25. | |
a huge range of experience from an Olympic silver medallist down to | :40:25. | :40:30. | |
people who came last. So the scale of bringing a crew like that | :40:30. | :40:39. | |
together rests on the coach. You need mutual respect and | :40:39. | :40:45. | |
understanding as much as a training programme. That is the sign of a | :40:45. | :40:52. | |
seasoned coach. 16 weeks today, the two of them will be lining up for | :40:52. | :40:57. | |
Great Britain for the Olympics. That is when the rowing will start. | :40:57. | :41:02. | |
How great is the depth of British rowing? How has the legacy of | :41:03. | :41:11. | |
Pinsent and Redgrave been followed 2011. The British team of top the | :41:11. | :41:17. | |
world championship medal table. 10 in total, three of them gold. This | :41:17. | :41:22. | |
is the best British rowing squad in Olympic history. The most medal | :41:22. | :41:30. | |
chances, the best rowers. Competition for places is fierce. | :41:30. | :41:35. | |
The four is the men's main boat again. But for the last two years, | :41:35. | :41:39. | |
the best rowers have been in a pair and lost. There is tension in the | :41:39. | :41:43. | |
team because there is a bit of uncertainty. We have to have ups | :41:43. | :41:51. | |
and downs with pressure through the season as we go. I can't be sure I | :41:51. | :41:58. | |
will be rowing for Great Britain yet. We are coming close towards | :41:58. | :42:04. | |
the selection. It is a really strong team. I am new to it, and | :42:04. | :42:10. | |
the standard is really high. In the women, Katherine Grainger has three | :42:10. | :42:13. | |
Olympic silvers. For her, the battle is less about selection, | :42:14. | :42:20. | |
more about going one better. athletics Dorrie is the three | :42:20. | :42:26. | |
silver medals. I am still missing the fairy-tale ending, the gold at | :42:26. | :42:33. | |
last in front of the crowd. I am aware that if you could write the | :42:33. | :42:37. | |
story, that is how you would write it. Lots of questions, some still | :42:37. | :42:42. | |
to be answered. But with the spring come final trials, when everything | :42:42. | :42:49. | |
becomes a bit clearer. The season is about to start. The four is | :42:49. | :42:54. | |
still undecided. Reid and Hodge are in, along with Alex Gregory. Alex | :42:55. | :42:58. | |
Partridge and Tom James will battle for the last place. New and old | :42:59. | :43:05. | |
faces across the whole squad. With just over 100 faces -- days to go, | :43:05. | :43:13. | |
the pressure is now on. In the past, you had just one leading boat. This | :43:13. | :43:19. | |
time, it is very tight. The team as a whole is rising to the occasion. | :43:19. | :43:25. | |
We put the pressure on ourselves because we are so good. It is about | :43:25. | :43:29. | |
performing on the water in that one-off opportunity. We want to | :43:29. | :43:35. | |
deliver. A good illustration of the dead the | :43:35. | :43:39. | |
British rowing right now. Now we welcome viewers of BBC World News | :43:39. | :43:44. | |
and BBC America. You join us here on the banks of the river Thames. | :43:44. | :43:48. | |
We will be watching the 2012 Xchanging Boat Race on fold shortly. | :43:48. | :43:52. | |
The crews are out on the water and going through their warm-up routine. | :43:52. | :43:56. | |
I enjoyed by Katherine Grainger, Britain's most successful female | :43:56. | :44:00. | |
role, with six world titles and three Olympic silver medals. You | :44:00. | :44:06. | |
were talking about how obviously, the perfect end to the story is a | :44:06. | :44:10. | |
gold in London. What do you feel about competing at a home games? | :44:10. | :44:14. | |
Genuinely looking forward to it. A lot of people talk about the | :44:14. | :44:19. | |
expectation and pressure. It can become paralysing, the thought of | :44:19. | :44:27. | |
the scale of it. But it is just a fantastic opportunity that so many | :44:27. | :44:30. | |
athletes I know who have retired would give anything to come back | :44:30. | :44:34. | |
and do. You have teamed up with Anna Watkins. You have so far been | :44:34. | :44:43. | |
unbeatable. So far. It is one of those partnerships that is so | :44:43. | :44:50. | |
special. It comes around once every now and again. It just works. It | :44:50. | :44:54. | |
has been successful, and we look forward to the next four months. | :44:54. | :44:58. | |
How much has the set-up change in the 15 years you have been involved | :44:58. | :45:03. | |
in British rowing? Has it become more professional? Without a doubt. | :45:03. | :45:07. | |
It has transformed. When I came in, there was not the level of lottery | :45:07. | :45:11. | |
funding that there is now. People on the team were in massive amounts | :45:11. | :45:15. | |
of debt. They could not afford petrol to go to training. There | :45:15. | :45:19. | |
were not many abroad training camps, the facilities, the level of | :45:19. | :45:23. | |
coaching and support staff. Everything was at a much lower | :45:23. | :45:27. | |
level. Across the board, the whole thing has stepped up every year. | :45:27. | :45:31. | |
And we are seeing better results. suspect it is no coincidence that | :45:31. | :45:35. | |
we are seeing more women want to take up rowing because of what you | :45:35. | :45:38. | |
have done. The most exciting development in the recent history | :45:38. | :45:43. | |
of the Boat Race is that from 2015, the women's Boat Race will also | :45:43. | :45:47. | |
take place here on the Tideway. For now, it remains in Henley. This | :45:47. | :45:57. | |
:45:57. | :46:00. | ||
Conditions were perfect for this year's race. Both crews started | :46:00. | :46:04. | |
well, with Cambridge, who had not won for five years, taking an early | :46:05. | :46:09. | |
lead. They looked to be claiming a dominant victory, but there was | :46:09. | :46:15. | |
drama to come. The number two seat was thrown backwards, and the boat | :46:15. | :46:20. | |
almost ground to a halt. Cambridge were fighting to stay ahead. It was | :46:20. | :46:25. | |
tight. But eventually, the Light Blues heard the news that they had | :46:25. | :46:31. | |
won, just. The traditional celebration followed, before | :46:31. | :46:39. | |
thoughts turned to the Tideway, in three years' time. It is a big plus | :46:39. | :46:44. | |
for the women, bringing it in line with other sports, where or the | :46:44. | :46:49. | |
women are on an equal footing. have come on so much in the last | :46:49. | :46:57. | |
few years, we are as good as the men, and we're going to show it. | :46:57. | :47:02. | |
How different a challenge will it be, moving from Henley, to having | :47:02. | :47:08. | |
the race here? It will be a completely different event. The | :47:08. | :47:12. | |
Boat Race at Henley has been a wonderful experience, it is very | :47:12. | :47:17. | |
much a protected atmosphere. It is a much smaller deal, in terms of | :47:17. | :47:23. | |
numbers. And much shorter. Yes, it is a third of the distance, even | :47:23. | :47:29. | |
less than that. So, the training regime, the tactics in the race, | :47:29. | :47:33. | |
everything will be very different when the women come here. Is that | :47:33. | :47:37. | |
why it is taking a while, they want to get the women to a certain level | :47:37. | :47:41. | |
to be convinced that they can do it? It is not that they need to | :47:41. | :47:45. | |
step up, they will easily manage the racing here, that's not the | :47:45. | :47:50. | |
problem. It is just almost about tradition, it has been the Henley | :47:50. | :47:57. | |
Boat Race. I think it is very good that the women's Boat Race and the | :47:57. | :48:00. | |
men's Boat Race will now take place over the same distance, with the | :48:00. | :48:04. | |
same crowd, and the same excitement. Is it something you would like to | :48:04. | :48:09. | |
get a piece of yourself, either taking part or coaching? I don't | :48:09. | :48:15. | |
know if I could do any more degrees! I spoke to someone from | :48:15. | :48:21. | |
Oxford who has been studying for 10 years! Yes, but the oldest one is | :48:21. | :48:27. | |
29, and I am a little bit past that now. Of course, it is part of our | :48:27. | :48:30. | |
competitive nature. When these events happen in your own sport, | :48:30. | :48:35. | |
you want to have a piece of it. What will be great is that it will | :48:35. | :48:41. | |
involve more women in the sport of rowing than ever before. We have | :48:41. | :48:48. | |
got to let you go to Radio 5 Live now, so, many thanks to Katherine | :48:48. | :48:52. | |
Grainger. There is one woman taking part today, that's the Oxford cox, | :48:52. | :48:57. | |
Zoe de Toledo. It is a very tricky course to negotiate, because | :48:57. | :49:01. | |
beneath the waterline all sorts of problems, as Matthew Pinsent can | :49:01. | :49:07. | |
explain. The most important seat, especially for the Boat Race, is | :49:08. | :49:12. | |
the coxing seat. They have a couple of weapons at their disposal. First, | :49:12. | :49:17. | |
the rudder wires, and secondly, as you will see on Boat Race day, they | :49:17. | :49:22. | |
have all got these microphones, so that everybody in the boat can hear | :49:22. | :49:27. | |
exactly what they are as saying. But for all the technical wizardry, | :49:27. | :49:31. | |
the most important decision they have is the line on the river, | :49:31. | :49:41. | |
:49:41. | :49:42. | ||
which, for them, is all about that view out there. What does it every | :49:42. | :49:45. | |
eight-year-old learned at school? That the shortest distance between | :49:46. | :49:52. | |
two points is a straight line. So, here we are, at the start, and | :49:52. | :49:56. | |
there's Hammersmith Bridge. So, why don't the coxes take the shortest | :49:56. | :50:02. | |
line between these two points? I will show you why not. Every Coxon | :50:02. | :50:06. | |
knows that the straightest line is seldom the quickest here on the | :50:06. | :50:10. | |
Boat Race course. The fastest water is the deepest, and it is only as | :50:10. | :50:14. | |
the tide drops that you get a proper indication of where that | :50:14. | :50:20. | |
deep, fast water is. Here we are on the inside of the first bend, at | :50:20. | :50:24. | |
Fulham, and look how far these famous flats sweep out into the | :50:24. | :50:34. | |
river. In the Boat Race, the crews will be coming past way over my | :50:34. | :50:38. | |
head. The fastest water is the deepest. The quintessential | :50:38. | :50:42. | |
challenge for the coxes is not just to find the quickest water on the | :50:42. | :50:49. | |
first bend, at Fulham, but to keep their crew sitting in it for the | :50:49. | :50:57. | |
full race. As the huge Surrey bend unwinds, the cox will be making | :50:57. | :51:00. | |
sure that their growers on the inside line, and holding their | :51:00. | :51:06. | |
position. If the race is still close at Barnes Railway Bridge, | :51:06. | :51:08. | |
close at Barnes Railway Bridge, then it is going to be a classic. | :51:09. | :51:13. | |
The last bend on the course is the sharpest, and the Middlesex crew is | :51:13. | :51:17. | |
going to feel that it is definitely going to win from here. There is | :51:17. | :51:21. | |
not anything in the last five minutes of the race which favours | :51:21. | :51:25. | |
the Surrey station. All of that looks good in theory. But here's | :51:25. | :51:31. | |
the challenge for real. The river is full, and the deepest, fastest | :51:31. | :51:38. | |
water is completely invisible. The river is probably 150 metres wide, | :51:38. | :51:42. | |
and the coxes have got to pick the fastest line with no visual | :51:42. | :51:49. | |
references. They know that within 20 seconds after steering off the | :51:49. | :51:56. | |
tide, that could cost them the race. What a nightmare job. And if you | :51:56. | :52:00. | |
get it right, your reward is to be chucked in the river. It does not | :52:00. | :52:06. | |
seem to be fair. Still to come, Oz and James continue their vintage | :52:06. | :52:12. | |
odyssey up the River Thames. You're taking me to visit a brewery which | :52:12. | :52:21. | |
makes foreign lager on our beloved Tideway?! We will join them again | :52:21. | :52:25. | |
later, and you can see how many people are piling in, trying to get | :52:25. | :52:31. | |
a decent view among the banks of the river. This big sign, who is | :52:31. | :52:37. | |
this for? It is for Alex Davidson, our old school friend, we have | :52:37. | :52:43. | |
known him for the last 12 years. Absolutely ages, yes. Tell us some | :52:43. | :52:52. | |
secrets about him. He is a very loud chap, he is very strong, he | :52:52. | :53:00. | |
has been doing rowing for ages. is probably the most focused and | :53:00. | :53:06. | |
ambitious person that we know. he will need to be. I hope he saw | :53:06. | :53:14. | |
your banner earlier. Also, we have the girlfriend of Moritz Schramm | :53:14. | :53:18. | |
the girlfriend of Moritz Schramm with us here, and you do this | :53:18. | :53:23. | |
yourself, don't you? A Yes, it is a very different feeling, when you're | :53:23. | :53:32. | |
doing it yourself. When you're rowing, once you take the first | :53:32. | :53:37. | |
stroke, you can feel the boat, you can feel your crew, you can feel | :53:37. | :53:41. | |
the race, but on the other hand, for me, it will just be more and | :53:41. | :53:45. | |
more nervousness. He texted me this morning, saying, baby, don't worry, | :53:45. | :53:51. | |
we have got this. He knew that I would be the nervous one. Where we | :53:51. | :53:55. | |
you position yourself? I'm going to a friend's house who lives on | :53:55. | :53:59. | |
Putney Bridge. We have been watching it there for years. Thank | :53:59. | :54:04. | |
you so much for coming down to speak to us. For all of the rowers, | :54:04. | :54:08. | |
all of that training, it is not just about winning the race today, | :54:08. | :54:13. | |
it is about actually making it into the boat in the first place. Early | :54:13. | :54:17. | |
mornings on the river are not the romantic ideal. It is hard work and | :54:17. | :54:23. | |
it is hugely time-consuming. Knowing that if you lose, you have | :54:23. | :54:28. | |
basically thrown away six months of your life is a really good reason | :54:28. | :54:34. | |
not to lose! Time is ticking by, and Steve Trapmore needs to pick | :54:34. | :54:40. | |
his final eight. Last year we had some really good guys, but the | :54:40. | :54:43. | |
internal competition was not as good at it is this year. The coach | :54:43. | :54:48. | |
also has to contend with the vagaries of fate. Just days before | :54:48. | :54:53. | |
the final announcement, a virtual certainty, Jack Lindeman, has | :54:53. | :54:58. | |
aggravated a tendon injury. amount of mileage we do, it is | :54:58. | :55:03. | |
natural for our bodies to break down a bit. One man's injury is | :55:03. | :55:07. | |
sometimes another man's opportunity. That is the nature of a brutal | :55:07. | :55:12. | |
selection policy. It can be really cut throat and difficult at times. | :55:12. | :55:17. | |
There are setbacks obviously for everyone involved. Oxford returned | :55:17. | :55:20. | |
from their French training camp with the selection process drawing | :55:20. | :55:25. | |
to a conclusion. If everybody is fit and healthy, I could put the | :55:25. | :55:31. | |
boat out tomorrow. But there's definitely one or two seats with | :55:31. | :55:36. | |
some guys in the Isis boat who could perhaps make a bit of a | :55:36. | :55:43. | |
challenge. One of those, staking a late claim, was Geordie Macleod. | :55:43. | :55:48. | |
Alex Davidson had impressed greatly, but at a price. Sean Bowden | :55:48. | :55:55. | |
demanded total commitment. He has broken down my stroke from start to | :55:55. | :55:59. | |
finish, since we arrived. I had to spend a lot of time thinking about | :55:59. | :56:05. | |
exactly what he wanted. Hopefully I am getting there. Elsewhere, one of | :56:05. | :56:15. | |
the stars of the trials, Oskar Zorrilla, had found himself out of | :56:15. | :56:21. | |
favour. I will want to know that whoever is coxing Isis will be able | :56:21. | :56:25. | |
to challenge me, because that is when I will be able to get my | :56:25. | :56:31. | |
practice. One thing the Boat Race has shown over the years is that | :56:31. | :56:37. | |
anything can happen between now and the day. 5th March 2012, and, in | :56:37. | :56:43. | |
the shadow of the Olympic Stadium, the two crews were finally unveiled. | :56:43. | :56:47. | |
For the Dark Blues, Alex Davidson had proved his worth to claim the | :56:47. | :56:57. | |
sixth seat. And William Zeng, despite his injury, made it. It is | :56:57. | :56:59. | |
the opportunity for real achievement, as opposed to watching | :56:59. | :57:07. | |
the other guys do it. There would be no fairy-tale for James Ditzell. | :57:08. | :57:12. | |
And Katherine Apfelbaum would have to be content with the Cox seat in | :57:12. | :57:18. | |
the Isis boat. I decided the best bet was to come in, thinking, I am | :57:18. | :57:22. | |
coxing the boat, what do I do to make it as fast as possible? That | :57:22. | :57:26. | |
has been my mindset since the middle of September. Zoe de | :57:26. | :57:31. | |
Toledo's opposite number of would- be Ed Bosson, who turned 19 just | :57:31. | :57:35. | |
yesterday. Jack Lindeman had proved his fitness in the face of | :57:35. | :57:41. | |
competition, and Mike Thorp was back for another assault. We know | :57:41. | :57:47. | |
what we need to do, we cannot let last year happen again. So, for all | :57:48. | :57:51. | |
of them, the hard work is about to begin, they cannot drink any | :57:51. | :57:55. | |
alcohol for days before the race, they need to eat plenty of | :57:55. | :58:00. | |
carbohydrates, but for everybody here watching, it is just a big day | :58:00. | :58:07. | |
out. When last we saw Oz and James, they were on the raised balcony | :58:07. | :58:10. | |
outside the Dove, near Hammersmith Bridge, where they would have | :58:10. | :58:15. | |
stayed, given the choice. But the good thing about being slightly | :58:15. | :58:19. | |
tipsy is, you can become more easy to persuade to carry on your | :58:19. | :58:27. | |
adventure. Do you fancy, because I know you believe everything was | :58:27. | :58:37. | |
better in the past, to go to a pub for a traditional bar game? I will | :58:37. | :58:42. | |
put you out of your misery, the game is skittles. Isn't that a | :58:42. | :58:51. | |
little bit old-fashioned? It is, compared with Space invaders. | :58:51. | :58:59. | |
they play with cheese? No, they play with a ball, I think. You need | :58:59. | :59:06. | |
a bit more spin, James. Here we go. You throw it down and it went | :59:07. | :59:13. | |
bouncing, like Barnes Wallis. It is quite interesting, actually, there | :59:13. | :59:17. | |
is a long tradition of beer making on the river, for obvious reasons, | :59:17. | :59:22. | |
I suppose, stuff could come in by boat. There is actually a brewery | :59:22. | :59:30. | |
which makes lager. Foreign lager. Foreign lager? You're taking me to | :59:30. | :59:34. | |
visit a brewery on our beloved Tideway which makes foreign lager? | :59:34. | :59:38. | |
I thought it would give you a chance to have a good rant about | :59:38. | :59:48. | |
:59:48. | :59:56. | ||
the decline of England. I will give You are amused by the most childish | :59:56. | :00:02. | |
dreams. It is quite funny. Seriously, look at it closely, you | :00:02. | :00:12. | |
:00:12. | :00:15. | ||
will see what I mean. It should be slightly fruity, a little bit? | :00:15. | :00:22. | |
think there is a textural quality of the skin of a baked mackerel. | :00:22. | :00:31. | |
slightly mineral feel to it. Is it bottled here or tank here? It goes | :00:31. | :00:36. | |
off to going cans, I asked that earlier. Please pay attention. You | :00:36. | :00:39. | |
thought because I was asking the question, it was irrelevant. But | :00:39. | :00:49. | |
:00:49. | :01:01. | ||
actually, it was pertinent. Now, So is that the finishing post? | :01:01. | :01:08. | |
is it. Well, they queue for enhancing my appreciation of the | :01:08. | :01:14. | |
Boat Race, but where would you watch it? This is the end, and you | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
can watch the rest on TV. Putney is the beginning and you can watch the | :01:17. | :01:26. | |
rest on TV, or you can watch an enormous chunk of it at the Dove. | :01:26. | :01:30. | |
Well, it is safe to say that they had fun with that. James May well | :01:30. | :01:35. | |
be joining me next week at Aintree for his man and a programme, which | :01:35. | :01:40. | |
makes me think about perfect physique for a rower. Andrew | :01:40. | :01:44. | |
Triggs-Hodge and Tom James are with me again. What is the perfect shape | :01:44. | :01:48. | |
for a road? It seems that you can be small and delicate, or you can | :01:48. | :01:54. | |
be a beast of a man. There are lots of different routes. If you have | :01:54. | :01:59. | |
long limbs, it helps, and big lungs. Genetics are certainly part of it. | :02:00. | :02:05. | |
But being athletic and dynamic, the sport is about applying the power | :02:05. | :02:11. | |
you have got and timing. You see all shapes and sizes. But generally, | :02:11. | :02:14. | |
longer leavers and bigger lungs helps. And you have to stay | :02:14. | :02:18. | |
motivated. You have been training this morning? Were were up bright | :02:18. | :02:23. | |
and early this morning. It is a seven day job. But it is the same | :02:23. | :02:28. | |
for the guys in the Boat Race. They are training every day for the Boat | :02:28. | :02:35. | |
Race. But the motivation spills out into their dedication. And the | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
coaches were combat. As everybody at homes finishes their lunch, how | :02:40. | :02:44. | |
much do rowers eat in a given day, and what do they eat? For someone | :02:44. | :02:50. | |
like me, it is about 6000 calories. You try and get more in when | :02:50. | :02:55. | |
training, because I find my weight drops a bit. It is not the same for | :02:55. | :03:00. | |
everyone, but it becomes a bit like a chore. You have to see it as | :03:00. | :03:03. | |
another training session, which is the opposite of what a lot of | :03:03. | :03:09. | |
people find. 6000 calories is typical. Enjoy watching the race. A | :03:09. | :03:13. | |
brief word about weight - Cambridge are 7.9 kilograms per man on | :03:13. | :03:17. | |
average heavier than Oxford. In the past, the heavier crew has seemed | :03:17. | :03:23. | |
to have the advantage. Oxford are the favourites today, though. We | :03:23. | :03:26. | |
have near-perfect conditions. I hand you over to our commentary | :03:26. | :03:36. | |
:03:36. | :04:03. | ||
team. Let's look at total wins of For the last two years, the | :04:03. | :04:07. | |
favourites have been beaten in this race. I will hop in a boat and head | :04:07. | :04:13. | |
to the finish. Our commentary team will now take over, Dan Topolski | :04:13. | :04:23. | |
:04:23. | :04:24. | ||
Cambridge are a stone heavier. But Oxford are odds-on favourites to | :04:24. | :04:31. | |
win. This sporting fixture has been here well before the Moscow | :04:31. | :04:36. | |
Olympics. But over the last 20 years, it has been equal between | :04:36. | :04:41. | |
heavier and lighter crews. The big boys do not necessarily win. As Tom | :04:41. | :04:48. | |
James was saying, more significant is that priceless ability to make | :04:48. | :04:52. | |
the boat go faster on a course weather conditions are constantly | :04:52. | :04:56. | |
changing. Down, there is plenty of driftwood, some of the worst | :04:56. | :05:02. | |
conditions we have ever seen? through the week, the dredgers was | :05:02. | :05:06. | |
supposed to be cleaning the river and getting rid of some of the | :05:06. | :05:13. | |
rubbish that tipped into the river earlier in the week. Oxford had | :05:13. | :05:16. | |
their fines knocked off by a submerged drifting log on Monday. | :05:16. | :05:22. | |
We have seen that all this week, and it will be a serious problem | :05:22. | :05:27. | |
for the coxes. It is below the surface of the water. The umpire | :05:27. | :05:31. | |
has stated that if there are any problems, he will pick it up. This | :05:32. | :05:38. | |
is the reserve crew we are watching. The crew for Oxford have come well | :05:38. | :05:48. | |
:05:48. | :05:56. | ||
clear. They have won again. The Cambridge crew won the toss. And | :05:56. | :06:04. | |
And yet again, Isis have won. was a big margin of victory. A | :06:04. | :06:07. | |
great success to come off the Middlesex side, round the | :06:07. | :06:13. | |
Hammersmith bend. A very good performance, and it bodes well for | :06:13. | :06:19. | |
Oxford in the main race coming up now. There is a big weight | :06:19. | :06:23. | |
difference, and that is really considerable. The heavier crews | :06:23. | :06:28. | |
have longer legs, longer answer. That power, if Cambridge can | :06:28. | :06:33. | |
harness it well and really put on in the middle of the race with that | :06:33. | :06:38. | |
power and role efficiently, they will be a very big challenge. But | :06:38. | :06:43. | |
Oxford are very racy. They have three lightweights in the boat, my | :06:43. | :06:51. | |
size, 77 kilos or about 12 stone. That is a big difference. The coach | :06:51. | :06:57. | |
has been working on that. It is very much his programme after the | :06:57. | :07:00. | |
disappointment in 2010 to ensure that his chosen crew do themselves | :07:00. | :07:06. | |
justice and turn potential into high performance. I am the | :07:06. | :07:11. | |
president of the CBC, and this is my crew. I am studying medicine | :07:11. | :07:19. | |
with a PhD in behavioural neuroscience. I am studying Anglo- | :07:19. | :07:24. | |
Saxon, Norse and Celtic literature. Jack provides a lot of positivity | :07:24. | :07:29. | |
and enthusiasm. I am reading history at Homerton College. I | :07:29. | :07:37. | |
bring fight. I am studying law at St Edmund's. He provides a lot of | :07:37. | :07:43. | |
hunger and technical leadership. am studying land economy. He is a | :07:43. | :07:53. | |
:07:53. | :07:53. | ||
real workhorse. I am studying economic Research. He is a fellow | :07:53. | :08:01. | |
Aussie, bringing a lot of experience. I am studying history. | :08:01. | :08:07. | |
He sets up a solid rhythm, and the rest follow his lead. I am studying | :08:07. | :08:17. | |
:08:17. | :08:24. | ||
natural sciences. He is the will be fielding as his Oxford crew, | :08:24. | :08:28. | |
the dark Blues, are chasing their ninth victory as Oxford coach since | :08:28. | :08:34. | |
he was given the job in 1998. He is an unflappable man. And there is a | :08:34. | :08:41. | |
quiet intensity to his Crow. There is no hiding their ambition to rule | :08:41. | :08:50. | |
the Tideway once more. I am Karl Hudspith, President of the Oxford | :08:50. | :08:55. | |
University Boat Club. This is my crew. I am reading graduate entry | :08:55. | :09:04. | |
medicine. He won last year's Isis race. Quantum computation. Yale | :09:04. | :09:09. | |
graduate William Zeng is as quick with mental arithmetic as he is | :09:09. | :09:15. | |
with an oar. I am reading water science policy management. Another | :09:15. | :09:22. | |
vocal American. I am reading for an MSc in research and geography | :09:22. | :09:29. | |
environment. He is one of the toughest in the crew. I am studying | :09:29. | :09:34. | |
chromosome and developmental Biology. He has a constantly chirpy | :09:34. | :09:40. | |
and upbeat personality. I am studying computational biology at | :09:40. | :09:45. | |
Mansfield College. The third of our former lightweights in the boat, he | :09:45. | :09:51. | |
also rowed in last year's Isis race. I am doing a masters in Surgical | :09:51. | :09:56. | |
Sciences. The second of our senior internationals in the crew, a true | :09:56. | :10:01. | |
Dutch master. I am reading for an MSc in Criminology and Criminal | :10:01. | :10:06. | |
Justice. A former under 23 world champion who learned to cox on the | :10:06. | :10:15. | |
Tideway. Her experience is valuable. When you see the Cambridge crew, in | :10:15. | :10:19. | |
the middle of the boat, there is a tandem rig, one in front of the | :10:19. | :10:27. | |
other, with their blades on the first side. They became the first | :10:27. | :10:31. | |
crew to win with such a set-up. bring your weight into the middle | :10:31. | :10:36. | |
of the boat. That is one reason for doing it. If your boat is not going | :10:36. | :10:40. | |
straight in the normal set-up, you want to change that so that your | :10:40. | :10:46. | |
bow man does not have the same leverage. You are trying to get a | :10:46. | :10:49. | |
straight to running boat. That must be one of the problems they were | :10:49. | :10:59. | |
:10:59. | :11:05. | ||
having. Two boats waiting. John Garrett is in the umpire's launch. | :11:05. | :11:10. | |
Let's see where Clare Balding has got too, towards Hammersmith? You | :11:10. | :11:15. | |
are going well? When you get to come down the river | :11:15. | :11:19. | |
on a boat, I am excited because you get a real sense of all of the | :11:19. | :11:23. | |
crowds. You can imagine the noise that will be here as the crews | :11:23. | :11:27. | |
reached Hammersmith Bridge. They still have the large part of the | :11:27. | :11:31. | |
race to go and the big left-handed curve. The water is slightly choppy, | :11:31. | :11:39. | |
with a bit of a headwind, but we have to speed up. Bye-bye. | :11:39. | :11:47. | |
Clare is churning up the water for the race! So she is happy. We are | :11:47. | :11:55. | |
now by Putney Bridge. You can see the two boats on their stations. | :11:55. | :11:59. | |
Oxford are on the North Bank, the Middlesex bank. And Cambridge are | :11:59. | :12:07. | |
on the southern bank, the Surrey station. Dan will take you through. | :12:07. | :12:16. | |
Please acknowledge that you can hear this. Testing for volume. Zoe, | :12:16. | :12:25. | |
can you hear that? At the start, we come off Putney Bridge. The forced | :12:25. | :12:33. | |
corner they come to is Fulham Football Club. Then they go to | :12:33. | :12:36. | |
Middlesex, then up to Hammersmith Bridge, seven minutes gone. Then | :12:36. | :12:45. | |
round the big spend on the Surrey side. Straighter long Chiswick Eyot, | :12:45. | :12:49. | |
round and then the last seven minutes, you are coming up through | :12:49. | :12:53. | |
the Bandstand, with four minutes to go. Three minutes from Barnes | :12:53. | :12:57. | |
Bridge. A big curve in favour of Oxford for the last few minutes of | :12:57. | :13:03. | |
the race, through to the finish at Chiswick. | :13:03. | :13:06. | |
That is the cause which is laid out ahead, a course already conquered | :13:07. | :13:11. | |
by the Oxford reserve crew, Isis. They started from the same station | :13:11. | :13:17. | |
the blue boat will start on. advantage of being on the Middlesex | :13:17. | :13:21. | |
here is that they will not hit the headwind until they get round the | :13:21. | :13:27. | |
corner. The Surrey side will hit it first. They will get the rougher | :13:27. | :13:32. | |
water along the first mile through to Hammersmith Bridge. Oxford will | :13:32. | :13:37. | |
be trying to get as much as they can in this first part of the race. | :13:37. | :13:45. | |
We are waiting. The umpire is controlled. The crews are waiting. | :13:45. | :13:53. | |
This means so much to both crews. It is one race, one day, and | :13:53. | :13:58. | |
everything builds up to that. The effect of losing, we can't let last | :13:58. | :14:06. | |
year happen again. You spent seven months, and at the end you either | :14:06. | :14:16. | |
:14:16. | :14:16. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 44 seconds | :14:16. | :15:01. | |
have just had one British rower in their boat. You can see the two | :15:01. | :15:10. | |
coxes. Ed Bosson, 19 just yesterday. For Oxford, Zoe de Toledo, a winner | :15:10. | :15:16. | |
last year for Isis. There's Matthew Pinsent, who will be Assistant | :15:16. | :15:22. | |
umpire. And there's John Garrett, never a winner as a Cambridge | :15:22. | :15:27. | |
oarsmen. Three times an umpire of the Boat Race, and returns in | :15:27. | :15:37. | |
:15:37. | :15:39. | ||
charge of the reserve race. Arms aloft, so, neither crew ready just | :15:39. | :15:49. | |
:15:49. | :16:05. | ||
way. At the start is crucial. As expected, Oxford are away. | :16:05. | :16:11. | |
Cambridge, with the greater weight. But look at Oxford, charging clear. | :16:11. | :16:15. | |
Cambridge very slow on those first few strokes, we saw that in | :16:15. | :16:18. | |
practice earlier in the week, they were very slow getting going. | :16:18. | :16:22. | |
Oxford have got about a third of a length already. They are | :16:22. | :16:30. | |
approaching the first corner. If they can just push this on, and not | :16:30. | :16:35. | |
allow Cambridge to get into their stride... Cambridge know that | :16:35. | :16:39. | |
Oxford are good starters. They are prepared for that, they say. They | :16:39. | :16:45. | |
are hoping that they will be able to make their weight tell. They are | :16:45. | :16:49. | |
more than a stone a man heavier, and that is their big calling-card. | :16:49. | :16:53. | |
They have to get into position to make sure they can make the most of | :16:53. | :16:59. | |
this Surrey bank. Fulham football ground coming up on the right-hand | :16:59. | :17:05. | |
side, the Middlesex station. Both crews are at 35 strokes a minute at | :17:05. | :17:09. | |
the moment, they have settled into their race pace. They are just | :17:09. | :17:19. | |
:17:19. | :17:20. | ||
passing Noel our commentating box. Oxford have half a length. You can | :17:20. | :17:24. | |
hear the umpire, John Garrett, warning the boats. He is saying to | :17:24. | :17:30. | |
Oxford, you're pushing further towards the Surrey station. Again, | :17:30. | :17:37. | |
they're being warned. Zoe de Toledo, a very impressive Cox in all the | :17:37. | :17:40. | |
previous matches on the Tideway in the build-up to this race. | :17:40. | :17:44. | |
Cambridge have done a very good job here, they have checked Oxford's | :17:44. | :17:49. | |
progress, and they are getting into their rhythm, moving up into | :17:49. | :17:54. | |
contention. Oxford still trying to get away. They need to get as much | :17:54. | :17:59. | |
of an advantage in this first part of the race as they can, before | :17:59. | :18:06. | |
they hit the big Hammersmith bend. That is worth three quarters of a | :18:06. | :18:10. | |
length to the inside crew, which is Cambridge. As they come into the | :18:10. | :18:14. | |
rest of the race, into this head wind, the Cambridge extra weight | :18:14. | :18:22. | |
will really come to their advantage. John Garrett has been to see both | :18:22. | :18:27. | |
crews, insisting that he wants at least four or five metres between | :18:27. | :18:32. | |
the two boats. They're quite close together at the moment. The umpire | :18:32. | :18:36. | |
has said he wants that gap, but they are getting quite close. He | :18:36. | :18:40. | |
wants them to move apart. He thinks they're both encroaching against | :18:40. | :18:46. | |
each other, so no-one is at fault, but he wants them further apart. | :18:46. | :18:52. | |
Both crews, move apart! They're coming on to the straight, and | :18:52. | :18:55. | |
Oxford have got about a quarter of a length. Cambridge have settled | :18:55. | :19:02. | |
into a very good, strong, 35 strokes a minute. Expect Cambridge, | :19:02. | :19:05. | |
as they approached the Harrod's Repository, to make a big, big push. | :19:05. | :19:09. | |
That's what they have been practising, that's where they think | :19:09. | :19:14. | |
they can really score. Middlesex bend, were something like | :19:14. | :19:20. | |
a quarter of a length to the crew on that side. But then, it really | :19:20. | :19:24. | |
starts to tell, as the river starts to bend around. Underneath | :19:24. | :19:30. | |
Hammersmith Bridge, down towards Chiswick Steps, and that advantage | :19:30. | :19:33. | |
could be as much as three-quarters of a length to a length. So, | :19:33. | :19:41. | |
Cambridge are still in touch, as they come up to the former Harrod's | :19:41. | :19:47. | |
Repository, now, luxury flats. Cambridge have come back, as we can | :19:47. | :19:52. | |
see. Oxford on the outside of his corner, this is where they really | :19:52. | :19:56. | |
have to push. They will try to make a big push, they have got to push | :19:56. | :19:59. | |
before they get to the Harrod's Repository. Cambridge have settled | :19:59. | :20:05. | |
into a very strong rhythm, looking very good. Remember, a stone a man | :20:05. | :20:11. | |
extra, it is like having an extra man in the boat. Eight kilos, | :20:11. | :20:15. | |
nearly 10 stone, of extra power in that Cambridge boat, and into this | :20:15. | :20:21. | |
head wind, it is having a big effect. Oxford, entirely aware of | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
Cambridge's weight advantage, conscious that their technical | :20:25. | :20:28. | |
skill, the ability to move the boat efficiently and effectively as a | :20:28. | :20:37. | |
unit, not necessarily being clunky, that could be their advantage. | :20:37. | :20:41. | |
Still about a quarter of a length of clear, as Cambridge start to dig | :20:41. | :20:46. | |
in. With the sunglasses and the pony tail, at number five, Mike | :20:46. | :20:51. | |
Thorp, hurting so deeply following that defeat last year, having won | :20:52. | :20:57. | |
the year before that. Here they go again, Oxford getting quite close. | :20:57. | :21:01. | |
They have straightened up again, but they are making a very big push, | :21:01. | :21:06. | |
to try to get as much of an advantage as possible, as you can | :21:06. | :21:09. | |
see the Harrod's Repository on the left. They are trying to get away a | :21:09. | :21:16. | |
bit, so they have an advantage going into this big, big corner. | :21:16. | :21:20. | |
The coxes are driving this aggressive, racing line, looking | :21:20. | :21:26. | |
for the fastest water, the deepest water is the fastest stream, which | :21:26. | :21:34. | |
is what both crews are searching for. But only if one crew moves | :21:34. | :21:37. | |
actually -- moves at least one length clear, can they then move | :21:37. | :21:47. | |
across. Something like 2000 metres, which is the usual length for the | :21:47. | :21:51. | |
World Championships or the Olympics. As they come up to Hammersmith | :21:51. | :21:56. | |
Bridge, they have got an advantage of three-quarters of a length, | :21:56. | :22:00. | |
going around his corner. Oxford will have to hold on now, they have | :22:01. | :22:05. | |
not got enough of an advantage to move ahead. You can see now, | :22:05. | :22:08. | |
Cambridge beginning to move, they have moved up to 37 strokes a | :22:08. | :22:18. | |
:22:18. | :22:21. | ||
minute, and they are pushing fast. At stroke, a very cool man, calm | :22:21. | :22:27. | |
man, Niles Garratt, but women can be relied upon for great rhythm. | :22:27. | :22:37. | |
:22:37. | :22:53. | ||
And for Oxford, in the bow seat, to the left, towards Chiswick Reach. | :22:53. | :22:58. | |
This is where the Surrey bend could count for Cambridge. Then now, | :22:58. | :23:02. | |
they're starting to make it count. Oxford have been warned, they have | :23:02. | :23:06. | |
had to move out towards the outside of that corner. It is very | :23:06. | :23:10. | |
dangerous for them, they have got to dig in and hold all the way | :23:10. | :23:14. | |
around the outside of his corner. Remember, Cambridge, big weight, | :23:14. | :23:19. | |
big power in their boat, harnessing it well. They have got to make this | :23:19. | :23:23. | |
work, they have got to move away, it is worth three quarters of a | :23:23. | :23:27. | |
length, and try and get clear of Oxford. Because Oxford will have | :23:27. | :23:35. | |
the advantage over the last bend. So, how do you think it is looking? | :23:35. | :23:40. | |
We have got a fantastic race on her hands, better than anybody expected, | :23:40. | :23:44. | |
better than the book is expected. Cambridge have done an amazing job | :23:44. | :23:48. | |
in the first eight or nine minutes, they have made their weight tell. | :23:48. | :23:51. | |
They have got another three or four minutes on this big Surrey bend, | :23:51. | :23:56. | |
they have to get away from Oxford, because after this, the next bend | :23:56. | :24:03. | |
will be in Oxford's favour. Cambridge have to get away. This is | :24:03. | :24:09. | |
some contest. So many sages on the towpaths were saying that Oxford | :24:09. | :24:19. | |
:24:19. | :24:21. | ||
would run away with this. But here we are, coming up to the 9th minute, | :24:21. | :24:27. | |
by Chiswick Reach, just on the left, back upstream, and we are pretty | :24:27. | :24:32. | |
much level. Oxford holding on very well around the outside of his | :24:32. | :24:37. | |
corner. Oxford are still in this race. Cambridge's advantage is | :24:37. | :24:41. | |
beginning to run out, but they are making the most of it, really | :24:41. | :24:44. | |
having a big push now, because they know that the advantage is going to | :24:44. | :24:49. | |
turn to the other side of the River once they get around his corner. | :24:49. | :24:53. | |
They have got a straight coming up alongside Chiswick Eyot. Cambridge | :24:53. | :24:58. | |
Ian ward, they're trying to push out, but Oxford holding on, and now, | :24:58. | :25:02. | |
they will try to push on and feel that they have got the advantage. | :25:02. | :25:07. | |
Now, they're beginning to move, Oxford, back alongside again. And | :25:07. | :25:10. | |
this straight is where the advantage will start to favour | :25:10. | :25:20. | |
:25:20. | :25:25. | ||
Oxford. Now, it is down to real guts and determination. This is | :25:25. | :25:29. | |
down to where or the real Boat Race work is done. They have got about | :25:29. | :25:34. | |
seven minutes to go. Cambridge will be warned, they are coming across. | :25:34. | :25:38. | |
But the coxes are reacting well. It is big man's work for the last | :25:38. | :25:43. | |
eight minutes of his race. Oxford have just got the edge. Trust is a | :25:43. | :25:50. | |
word you hear so much for rowing crews, trust in the Cox, trusting | :25:50. | :25:55. | |
each other, as a unit, to dig deep and do everything you can to take | :25:55. | :26:00. | |
your boat to the finishing line first. And Oxford have dug deep, | :26:00. | :26:05. | |
held their own around that crucial Surrey bend, and now, look as if | :26:05. | :26:15. | |
:26:15. | :26:15. | ||
they are pulling clear possibly. As they come up towards Dukes Meadow | :26:15. | :26:19. | |
on the Middlesex side. Still something like eight minutes to go, | :26:19. | :26:28. | |
and nothing to choose between them. Seven minutes to go now. Once they | :26:28. | :26:33. | |
get around this corner. What has happened? Cambridge have stopped. | :26:33. | :26:36. | |
They have stopped growing, there is a man swimming a cross between the | :26:37. | :26:46. | |
:26:47. | :26:50. | ||
boats. All the boats have stopped. What a shock. This is unprecedented. | :26:50. | :26:56. | |
Well, this could well be a restart for John Garrett. He will start the | :26:56. | :27:01. | |
race, with the crews pretty well even. Oxford just had the edge. He | :27:01. | :27:06. | |
will have to start the race again from this point. This is going to | :27:06. | :27:11. | |
be an advantage for Cambridge, because the weight will get them | :27:11. | :27:15. | |
going much faster, they will be much quicker on a winning start. | :27:15. | :27:20. | |
They will start where they are on the water, as they work, in the | :27:20. | :27:25. | |
sense that Oxford were just possibly a quarter length ahead. It | :27:25. | :27:29. | |
will take some time for this to be arranged. Have you ever seen | :27:29. | :27:34. | |
anything like this before? Never seen anything like it. The race was | :27:34. | :27:41. | |
stopped once seven or eight years ago. But a swimmer in the river? | :27:41. | :27:45. | |
It was a demonstration, clearly, to draw attention to himself. We will | :27:46. | :27:55. | |
:27:56. | :27:56. | ||
find out why he did it later on. We're going to spin round, we are | :27:56. | :28:00. | |
going to start the race from the bottom of Chiswick Eyot, it is a | :28:00. | :28:08. | |
restart. That's what we're going to do. So, the umpire, John Garrett, | :28:08. | :28:18. | |
saying that they're going to turn around and go back to Chiswick Eyot. | :28:18. | :28:21. | |
This is a shock. Remember, they have worked, emotionally and | :28:21. | :28:26. | |
physically, extremely hard. The advantage is going to become a | :28:26. | :28:32. | |
really, apart from the little band which will favour Cambridge, | :28:32. | :28:35. | |
they're starting at the bottom of the island, they will go for one | :28:35. | :28:38. | |
minute along the island, they will hit that corner, which will favour | :28:38. | :28:42. | |
Cambridge, and then the advantage will turn to Oxford for the last | :28:42. | :28:46. | |
part of the race. So, the advantage is going to be a little bit with | :28:46. | :28:51. | |
Oxford. Whether the umpire starts the crews level, or whether he | :28:51. | :28:56. | |
starts them as they were at that point in the race, we do not know. | :28:56. | :29:00. | |
But the important thing here is, the lactate which has built up in | :29:00. | :29:06. | |
the muscles of these two crews, it will be extremely important. And | :29:06. | :29:10. | |
there you can see the swimmer in the water, that was very quick- | :29:10. | :29:16. | |
thinking, from the Oxford cox, Zoe de Toledo, because that could have | :29:16. | :29:20. | |
been quite frightening. You can see his head bobbing in the water, that | :29:20. | :29:24. | |
could have been quite horrific. could have had his head cut off by | :29:24. | :29:29. | |
the blades. But then launches that were falling cannot stop, he would | :29:29. | :29:35. | |
have been subsumed by them. remember in the Formula 1 at | :29:35. | :29:38. | |
Hockenheim a few years ago, something similar, but I was not | :29:38. | :29:45. | |
expecting that. The amount of lactate which has built up in the | :29:45. | :29:49. | |
muscles of these athletes, very, very difficult. There has got to be | :29:49. | :29:53. | |
a lot of very, very focused thinking in the boats as they think | :29:53. | :30:00. | |
about what they're going to do. It is going to be a rolling start. The | :30:00. | :30:04. | |
umpire is going to have to judge the distance between them, as they | :30:04. | :30:11. | |
start off. He will have to judge how he starts them. But look at the | :30:11. | :30:14. | |
waves which have been kicked up by the following launches. All of | :30:14. | :30:18. | |
those following launches are having to turn around, to get back behind | :30:18. | :30:24. | |
the crews, so the water is appalling. Whether the umpire will | :30:24. | :30:28. | |
give this water time to settle down, we do not know. What are conditions | :30:28. | :30:38. | |
:30:38. | :30:46. | ||
launches have come to a screeching halt. We are sitting next to the | :30:46. | :30:49. | |
police boat which has picked up this protester who was swimming | :30:49. | :30:53. | |
across. He has a big smile on his face. He has achieved his aims, but | :30:53. | :30:59. | |
the whole race today has been disrupted. There had been all sorts | :30:59. | :31:06. | |
of preparations and pre-race planning and visualisation. Surely | :31:06. | :31:15. | |
this could not have been part of anyone's visualisation. No. But how | :31:15. | :31:23. | |
to take off again from a stop, that will have been thought about. But | :31:23. | :31:28. | |
it is how quickly they can recover. See how what cities. The boats are | :31:28. | :31:33. | |
bouncing around. The launches are churning it out -- about as they go | :31:33. | :31:37. | |
back to the start. This is very difficult for the crews. Their | :31:37. | :31:42. | |
adrenalin will be right up now. This is going to be an | :31:42. | :31:45. | |
extraordinary last seven minutes. They are starting eight minutes | :31:45. | :31:51. | |
from the finish. They have stopped just past halfway. But the umpire | :31:51. | :31:58. | |
is taking them back to start at the halfway point. You can see how the | :31:58. | :32:05. | |
boats are still making their way back towards the Hammersmith Bridge. | :32:05. | :32:10. | |
I wonder if we can talk to Matthew Pinsent, who is on the umpire's the | :32:10. | :32:19. | |
launch. Matthew, how is this going to work? John Garratt obviously | :32:19. | :32:23. | |
stopped at the race for the swimmer in the water. The rules allow him | :32:23. | :32:28. | |
to stop the race and restart it from any position he sees fit. At | :32:29. | :32:34. | |
the moment, we are taking Cambridge and Oxford back up the river, | :32:34. | :32:37. | |
because the tide is constantly taking us towards the finish line. | :32:37. | :32:41. | |
We will align them again so that they are level, and rowed the last | :32:41. | :32:46. | |
bit of the course. It is not ideal. But given those circumstances, what | :32:46. | :32:52. | |
could we do? It is a safety issue. If you have someone in the water, | :32:52. | :32:56. | |
it could be a very serious injury if someone was hit by a rowing boat. | :32:56. | :32:59. | |
Fortunately, we spotted him and stopped the race. How easy will it | :33:00. | :33:04. | |
be to get these crews level and how easy is it to get some sort of | :33:04. | :33:09. | |
level surface, too? It will be so churned up because of the boats. | :33:09. | :33:15. | |
Absolutely. We are bobbing about now. It is not ideal. But we could | :33:15. | :33:21. | |
not possibly have carried on. The rules do not allow the umpire to | :33:21. | :33:25. | |
designate a winner if you stop at that point. They have to cross the | :33:25. | :33:30. | |
finishing line. So now we are left with this position that we will | :33:30. | :33:34. | |
have a four or five-minute race now from here to the finish line. | :33:34. | :33:38. | |
wonder how long it will take for you to get in position and for the | :33:38. | :33:45. | |
crews themselves to be ready? Cambridge are ahead of us. Oxford | :33:45. | :33:50. | |
are level with us. So we probably have another three or four minutes | :33:50. | :33:53. | |
before the crews are back towards the position where John Garrett | :33:53. | :33:57. | |
wants to turn them on to the tide. This has never happened before in | :33:57. | :34:02. | |
the Boat Race. We have never had a swimmer before. As anything ever | :34:02. | :34:05. | |
happened like this team in all your experience, Olympics, training, | :34:05. | :34:09. | |
whatever? We have had plenty of swimmers, but always after the | :34:09. | :34:14. | |
finish line, swimming out to say well done or commiserations. This | :34:14. | :34:22. | |
is a new one. Dan, I was out watching Cambridge in their last | :34:22. | :34:27. | |
race on the Tideway against Molesey. And in their second race, they | :34:28. | :34:32. | |
almost had a collision with a cruiser which was coming down the | :34:32. | :34:36. | |
river and only noticed the two crews racing flat out at the last | :34:36. | :34:39. | |
minute and veered straight across to avoid them, but completely | :34:39. | :34:44. | |
disrupted the race. Cambridge, at one stage, in their boat, which is | :34:44. | :34:50. | |
a slightly more delicate boat than the one used by Oxford, there were | :34:50. | :34:54. | |
concerns that it would snap, because there was an enormous wash, | :34:54. | :34:59. | |
and it was going up and down alarmingly and the race was ruined. | :34:59. | :35:05. | |
Well, the race has been ruined here. The key thing to think about now is | :35:05. | :35:11. | |
how this disruption is affecting the two crews. You have three very | :35:11. | :35:15. | |
small people in this Oxford boat. The amount of work they will have | :35:15. | :35:20. | |
done to be in the race around the outside of the corner, they will be | :35:20. | :35:27. | |
feeling that. They have less resilience than bigger people. The | :35:27. | :35:34. | |
advantage of the extra weight that Cambridge have, that will help them | :35:34. | :35:38. | |
to dispel the tiredness in the Lakes. They will be able to move | :35:38. | :35:48. | |
off more quickly on a running start. They will not be held back. Their | :35:48. | :35:50. | |
first few shroud will be much stronger and sharper. But Oxford | :35:51. | :35:57. | |
have the advantage of the last corner, and that will help. But now | :35:57. | :36:02. | |
they are trying to get their legs moving and get themselves back. | :36:02. | :36:06. | |
Having built themselves up to go towards the finish, they now have | :36:06. | :36:11. | |
to come back up again. They are not doing much work, they are just | :36:11. | :36:18. | |
paddling back. They need to keep moving. But they have done races in | :36:18. | :36:23. | |
other fixtures where they have had to race two seven minute pieces or | :36:23. | :36:30. | |
two nine-minute pieces, so they have done this in training. But in | :36:30. | :36:34. | |
the actual main race, they will have expended everything to get to | :36:34. | :36:38. | |
that point. Wayne Pommen, have you ever experienced anything like this, | :36:38. | :36:43. | |
and if so how did you manage to reset your mind to race again? | :36:43. | :36:46. | |
have not seen anything like this. The last time this happened in a | :36:46. | :36:51. | |
Boat Race was 2001, when there was a collision and a restart. The | :36:51. | :36:56. | |
biggest question will be whether the umpire will start the crews | :36:56. | :37:00. | |
level, or whether he will estimate who was leading at the time of the | :37:00. | :37:05. | |
incident. In 2001, Oxford were leading when it was stopped. But | :37:05. | :37:08. | |
they were have restarted roughly level, and the umpire was severely | :37:08. | :37:14. | |
criticised. So the question is, what will happen this time? Having | :37:14. | :37:17. | |
talked to John Garratt earlier in the week, I understood that in the | :37:17. | :37:21. | |
event of any driftwood getting in the way, as we discussed earlier, | :37:21. | :37:28. | |
when Oxford lost their fear and and there but had to come back, if they | :37:28. | :37:34. | |
were to have repaired it, he would have restarted the race in the | :37:34. | :37:36. | |
order and the ranking that the boats were at the time of the | :37:36. | :37:40. | |
incident. So which of the crew was in the lead, he would set it up as | :37:40. | :37:45. | |
near as possible to that advantage to the crew who were leading. So by | :37:45. | :37:50. | |
my reckoning, it was very close. There was about a quarter of a | :37:50. | :37:58. | |
length in it. Imagine how much work they have to do now to come back up. | :37:58. | :38:02. | |
Also, you talked about the lactic acid and how they get themselves | :38:02. | :38:11. | |
ready again. And what about the start? It was crucial when we saw | :38:11. | :38:21. | |
it originally, with Oxford starting so powerfully. Looking at the | :38:21. | :38:25. | |
course here, the stoppage of the race happened just on this corner | :38:25. | :38:32. | |
here. They had seven minutes to go from the point where they had to | :38:32. | :38:38. | |
stop. There are now working back down the river towards this end of | :38:38. | :38:43. | |
the island. They will line up at the bottom end, which is pretty | :38:43. | :38:47. | |
well exactly halfway over the Boat Race course. They will have raced | :38:47. | :38:57. | |
:38:57. | :38:57. | ||
eight minutes, and they now have nine-and-a-half minutes to go. | :38:57. | :39:01. | |
There is a short corner in favour of Cambridge on the Surrey side. | :39:01. | :39:05. | |
And as they come round to the crossing, the advantage then starts | :39:06. | :39:12. | |
for the Middlesex side, which is Oxford. It takes us under Barnes | :39:12. | :39:17. | |
Bridge. Both crews go through the centre arch and then round towards | :39:17. | :39:23. | |
the finish, just before Chiswick Bridge. The crews still have some | :39:23. | :39:27. | |
work to do. It was optimistic of Matthew Pinsent to say there were | :39:27. | :39:37. | |
:39:37. | :39:43. | ||
five minutes to go. Extraordinary. Canada geese serenely in front of | :39:43. | :39:50. | |
us, near Putney! And mayhem further downstream. I suppose it is also | :39:50. | :39:56. | |
fair to say that the spectators will be waiting at Mortlake, | :39:56. | :40:00. | |
thinking, what has happened? Has there been a sinking? Have they | :40:00. | :40:05. | |
suddenly disappeared?! I am sure the word will have got out on | :40:05. | :40:11. | |
portable radios and mobile phones. They are probably aware of what | :40:11. | :40:18. | |
happened. And those watching it in cider on TV and in the pubs will | :40:18. | :40:23. | |
see what is going on. You can see people checking their mobile phones. | :40:23. | :40:33. | |
:40:33. | :40:35. | ||
The power of Twitter. I am sure they will be filing furiously. But | :40:35. | :40:41. | |
there is still some time before this race will resume. Still | :40:41. | :40:51. | |
:40:51. | :40:56. | ||
waiting to confirm exactly how far... I wonder who was in front. | :40:56. | :41:01. | |
John Garrett has been the centre of controversy before, when he was | :41:01. | :41:07. | |
umpire in the Isis race in 1990, when he disqualified Isis when the | :41:07. | :41:17. | |
:41:17. | :41:18. | ||
two crews came too close together. That was quite a controversy. | :41:18. | :41:28. | |
:41:28. | :41:29. | ||
are going to restart at the bottom of the eight. So this is the replay | :41:29. | :41:34. | |
of where they were. You can just see the man in the water. Who was | :41:34. | :41:41. | |
ahead? It looks to be Oxford, a quarter of a length ahead. If they | :41:41. | :41:45. | |
start a quarter of a length ahead, that will eliminate the advantage | :41:45. | :41:51. | |
that Cambridge will have on the first corner. It seems that that | :41:51. | :41:55. | |
launch has an extra passenger, heading down towards Putney Bridge, | :41:55. | :41:59. | |
namely the man who was in the water. You hope there is no one planning | :41:59. | :42:03. | |
to do something similar, because this was brewing up to be a really | :42:03. | :42:07. | |
close, tight-knit contest, much against all predictions. So many | :42:07. | :42:13. | |
were saying Oxford looked so good in the water, Cambridge unable to | :42:13. | :42:17. | |
nip their power properly as a flowing unit, which is so important | :42:17. | :42:21. | |
on this stretch of water. It is not like 2000 metres in a straight line, | :42:21. | :42:27. | |
as at the World Championships and on the Olympic rowing course in 16 | :42:27. | :42:34. | |
weeks' time. This is a river all of its own, with its own special, | :42:34. | :42:38. | |
capricious conditions, which have caught out many a crew in the past | :42:38. | :42:43. | |
and will do so in the future. But the problem now is entirely man- | :42:43. | :42:48. | |
made and has thankfully been removed. You can see how bouncy | :42:48. | :42:58. | |
:42:58. | :43:06. | ||
that water is. Very uncomfortable for them. They are just sitting, | :43:06. | :43:16. | |
waiting for the... The umpire will be wanting to try and let the water | :43:16. | :43:22. | |
settle down. In all your experience, have you ever had anything like | :43:22. | :43:32. | |
this? Either as an oarsman or a coach? My Bowman collapsed in 1980, | :43:32. | :43:37. | |
when I was with Oxford. Six years ago, the Cambridge four man | :43:37. | :43:43. | |
collapsed. But no disruption like this? No. Not actually in the race. | :43:43. | :43:50. | |
A clash and a stoppage by the umpire and then maybe start. So we | :43:50. | :43:55. | |
have had a restart. Matthew Pinsent, I gather you can hear us again. | :43:55. | :44:03. | |
What is your schedule now? We are just talking to Oxford now. John | :44:03. | :44:08. | |
Garrett is telling them the exact start line for the restart, which | :44:08. | :44:12. | |
will be down Chiswick Eyot. You obviously want to get going again | :44:12. | :44:16. | |
as quickly as you can, but the balance is the water. The flotilla | :44:16. | :44:21. | |
that follows the race churns up the river to a great extent, so they | :44:21. | :44:25. | |
will have to race in some bumpy conditions which are completely | :44:25. | :44:35. | |
:44:35. | :44:35. | ||
unlike what they just had. We are going to restart the race. Please | :44:35. | :44:43. | |
get off the course. That is the lifeboat, being asked to leave the | :44:43. | :44:52. | |
premises because of the Wash. This is the problem. You can see, he is | :44:52. | :44:56. | |
churning it up again. That means the water bounces between the banks | :44:56. | :45:01. | |
and creates a rolling, difficult piece of water to roll on. It was | :45:01. | :45:05. | |
some feat for Cambridge last month in that race against Molesey to | :45:05. | :45:11. | |
gather themselves. At one stage, the cox it said, just stop running, | :45:11. | :45:16. | |
because they were pitching and it was a very close thing. Let's see | :45:16. | :45:26. | |
:45:26. | :45:34. | ||
last year. Yes, and you can give us a flavour of this and what it must | :45:34. | :45:39. | |
be like for the coxes. It is something completely unexpected. It | :45:39. | :45:43. | |
is something which gets bandied about in a joking way, what if | :45:43. | :45:47. | |
somebody jumped into the river? You talk about debris and things like | :45:47. | :45:50. | |
that, but actually somebody being in the river, that has never | :45:50. | :45:54. | |
happened before. Already, the coxes have shown great maturity in | :45:54. | :46:00. | |
stopping, getting their crews back together, spinning, and getting | :46:00. | :46:04. | |
ready for the restart. It now becomes a completely different race. | :46:04. | :46:08. | |
Yes, it was developing into one of the most exciting races we have | :46:08. | :46:13. | |
seen for a while. They were both still right there. But they will be | :46:13. | :46:16. | |
getting back into the zone, they will be refocusing themselves, and | :46:16. | :46:22. | |
I'm sure we will see a great end to this race. Let's hope so, we would | :46:22. | :46:32. | |
:46:32. | :46:36. | ||
have been well into the to get into some kind of station. | :46:36. | :46:40. | |
And you may have heard how John Garrett was still unhappy with | :46:40. | :46:50. | |
:46:50. | :47:10. | ||
boat's there are all part of the Boat Race flotilla. Now, waiting | :47:10. | :47:15. | |
for John Garrett to be happy, for the crews to be ready, and on their | :47:15. | :47:21. | |
respective stations. Currently, both crews are on the Surrey bank, | :47:21. | :47:25. | |
and we know that Oxford have got to be on the other side, to satisfy | :47:25. | :47:32. | |
this man here. We're still not really yet quite sure whether they | :47:32. | :47:35. | |
going to start level, or whether they're going to start with Oxford | :47:35. | :47:40. | |
slightly ahead, as they were when they came round the corner. When | :47:41. | :47:47. | |
they got to the point of the swimmer, at the top of Chiswick | :47:47. | :47:54. | |
Eyot, it was pretty close. Let's go to Sonali. You have a man with you | :47:54. | :48:02. | |
who knows all about rowing. Yes, with me now, Andrew Triggs-Hodge. | :48:02. | :48:07. | |
We have been watching events unfold from Putney. What will be going | :48:07. | :48:13. | |
through the mind of the rowers? This is a complete game-changer. | :48:13. | :48:19. | |
These guys have been preparing for a race which will last 18 minutes, | :48:19. | :48:23. | |
and the physiological demand is very precise. They have now had to | :48:23. | :48:29. | |
stop the race because of a stupid swimmer, and not only do they then | :48:29. | :48:33. | |
have to come down from that race, put it to bed, get their heads | :48:33. | :48:38. | |
screwed back on, but now, they have got to start the process of getting | :48:38. | :48:42. | |
their bodies could back up to start racing again. The demands of | :48:42. | :48:47. | |
physical as well as mental. As soon as they finished that first piece, | :48:47. | :48:52. | |
their body would have been going, OK, fine, I can start to slow down, | :48:52. | :48:58. | |
start to recover. However, they have now got to be kick-started | :48:58. | :49:03. | |
again, to get it going again, for the last seven minutes. That is a | :49:03. | :49:07. | |
short race in these terms, and it is going to be a whole new demand | :49:07. | :49:12. | |
for them. It changes everything they have been preparing for. | :49:12. | :49:17. | |
their plans completely thrown out of the window. Exactly, they | :49:17. | :49:22. | |
prepare for one start. Now they have got to restart. They were side | :49:22. | :49:25. | |
by side for the majority of the race, it has been a fantastic race. | :49:25. | :49:28. | |
Oxford would have been confident, going into the next phase of the | :49:28. | :49:32. | |
race, on the inside of the bend, mentally, they would have been in a | :49:32. | :49:37. | |
very strong position. Cambridge had been trying really hard around the | :49:37. | :49:42. | |
inside of their bend, that was the part where they had to win the race. | :49:42. | :49:46. | |
And now, we have a situation where everybody is back to the start, but | :49:46. | :49:50. | |
they have moved it back, so they have given Cambridge their bent | :49:50. | :49:57. | |
back, which I find a bit crazy. If you have a streaker coming on in | :49:57. | :50:03. | |
tennis, you do not then go back a few sets. So, they have given | :50:03. | :50:08. | |
Cambridge another chance at their inside bend. It merely changes | :50:08. | :50:12. | |
everything. It is hard to know what is going to happen. The athletes | :50:12. | :50:17. | |
have to get their head switched back on. They have to find a new | :50:18. | :50:21. | |
side of their training, because they will not have practised this, | :50:21. | :50:24. | |
they have just got to believe that they can push on hard and get back | :50:24. | :50:28. | |
into the race. Who do you think will have the psychological | :50:28. | :50:35. | |
advantage, with the race having been moved back? Well, it would | :50:35. | :50:39. | |
have been Oxford, but now, Cambridge can think that they have | :50:39. | :50:45. | |
got a second chance, which can do some good things to a crew, they | :50:45. | :50:49. | |
can get their heads up again and they can really kick on. They know | :50:49. | :50:54. | |
how Oxford started at the beginning of the race, I think they can make | :50:54. | :50:58. | |
amends and really do some damage. But Oxford really had a good, | :50:58. | :51:02. | |
strong rhythm, they need to get straight back into that, commit to | :51:02. | :51:07. | |
what they were doing, what looked like a good, strong position, and | :51:07. | :51:17. | |
:51:17. | :51:30. | ||
then, it is anyone's race. It is bad. They lined up to go and then | :51:30. | :51:37. | |
Cambridge decided to turn around and paddle back down again. It | :51:37. | :51:41. | |
could be that the Cambridge cox decided that the water was too | :51:41. | :51:45. | |
bouncy, too unpleasant, and he wanted a bit more time, and he took | :51:45. | :51:48. | |
that decision on his own, because there was no instruction coming | :51:48. | :51:53. | |
from the umpire. Otherwise both crews would have turned at the same | :51:53. | :51:56. | |
time. I think Cambridge made that decision to turn ahead of anybody | :51:56. | :52:02. | |
else. That will be another four minutes, I would say, before we are | :52:02. | :52:07. | |
ready, Cambridge going back up. And I have to say, it is not warm. | :52:07. | :52:11. | |
There is also the concern about the tide. The tide is coming in, it is | :52:11. | :52:21. | |
:52:21. | :52:23. | ||
beginning to slow down now. Those launches have got to be careful, | :52:23. | :52:28. | |
they are just sitting there now. Usually they have a clear approach | :52:28. | :52:33. | |
to the start. But now they have got those floating launches. They have | :52:33. | :52:37. | |
got to come back through those floating launches, to get back to | :52:37. | :52:41. | |
the point where the umpire wants to start the race, at the bottom of | :52:42. | :52:50. | |
Chiswick Eyot. This is the finish, where they are waiting, some people | :52:50. | :52:57. | |
may be keeping in touch with friends who are at the start. Some | :52:57. | :53:02. | |
people have gone, it is all too much, or maybe they are looking for | :53:02. | :53:10. | |
another bottle. But for the crews, what did you make of what Andrew | :53:10. | :53:14. | |
Triggs-Hodge was saying, in terms of, the advantage was with Oxford, | :53:14. | :53:17. | |
but now, Cambridge have got another chance? Yes, they have got that | :53:17. | :53:22. | |
little bit of a corner, at the top of Chiswick Eyot, so they can take | :53:22. | :53:27. | |
some heart from that. But on the other hand, they know that the Big | :53:27. | :53:33. | |
bend is going to be against them, further down the course. Watching | :53:33. | :53:37. | |
the crews, Cambridge did get into a good rhythm. They were rather | :53:37. | :53:45. | |
ragged, the tandem that they have on that bow side, they were showing | :53:45. | :53:49. | |
a bit of ragged blade work, but overall, they had quite a good, | :53:49. | :53:53. | |
solid rhythm, which is what helped them to recover when Oxford had | :53:53. | :54:01. | |
that fast start. Oxford had leapt out to about half a length from the | :54:01. | :54:05. | |
start, but Cambridge held them, came round the first corner, and | :54:05. | :54:11. | |
then got back into the game, all the weigh, in the head wind, which | :54:11. | :54:15. | |
is to their advantage, because they have got a big crew, which is a | :54:15. | :54:21. | |
very big advantage, going into a headwind. Oxford, round the outside, | :54:21. | :54:25. | |
good steering from Zoe de Toledo, and Oxford held all the way around | :54:25. | :54:29. | |
the corner, and they were in a good position to steam on, they were | :54:29. | :54:34. | |
really in that winning position. As Andrew Triggs-Hodge has said, this | :54:34. | :54:44. | |
:54:44. | :54:46. | ||
is a game-changer. I'm sure if Mike Thorp and Dave Nelson have anything | :54:46. | :54:51. | |
to do with the words being said in the Light Blues boat, they will | :54:51. | :55:01. | |
:55:01. | :55:05. | ||
just say, 2011. This has been their goal, and they have been focused on | :55:05. | :55:15. | |
:55:15. | :55:15. | ||
nothing else. I think you're going to see that Oxford's fast start, | :55:15. | :55:18. | |
from a standing start, at the beginning, will not be repeated | :55:18. | :55:23. | |
quite so easily, because the boats are floating now. They are moving, | :55:23. | :55:27. | |
it is a moving start, and the first stroke will not be so effective for | :55:27. | :55:36. | |
Oxford. So, I think it will be closer at the start, but they are | :55:36. | :55:44. | |
pretty close. But the water is bouncy, and my hunch is that the | :55:44. | :55:49. | |
boat which Cambridge have chosen to use, this boat, I think it is quite | :55:49. | :55:53. | |
vulnerable in difficult water. That's why Cambridge turned around, | :55:53. | :56:01. | |
because they would prefer to have flatter water. Can you make sure | :56:01. | :56:11. | |
you leave enough room between the blades, please, before the start? | :56:11. | :56:15. | |
The coach, Steve Trapmore, was a winner with the Men's Eight in | :56:15. | :56:25. | |
:56:25. | :56:43. | ||
movement on the water. Ready - Oxford, Cambridge... The crews | :56:43. | :56:47. | |
themselves do not want to be starting at a disadvantage. | :56:47. | :56:53. | |
your hand down when you're straight. Cambridge are happier at the moment, | :56:53. | :57:03. | |
on the Surrey bank. So, we had a restart in 2001. I'm going to start | :57:03. | :57:13. | |
:57:13. | :57:15. | ||
you... Easy, both crews. Easy! Go! Away we go, the Boat Race has been | :57:15. | :57:21. | |
restarted! Once again, Oxford have already taken about a quarter of a | :57:21. | :57:27. | |
length. They moved out very fast. They're very determined here. You | :57:27. | :57:32. | |
have got about three-quarters of a minute until they get to this small | :57:32. | :57:35. | |
bend in Cambridge's favour. Cambridge know that they have got | :57:35. | :57:42. | |
to make an impression. Oxford did really well there. Their blade work | :57:42. | :57:48. | |
is very good, they're very good in rough water, Oxford. But they now | :57:48. | :57:51. | |
see this as a sprint, because they know that in a few minutes, they | :57:51. | :57:56. | |
will have the advantage of this big corner in their favour. They have | :57:56. | :58:01. | |
taken out almost half a length, and they will have the corner... | :58:01. | :58:07. | |
there has been a big clash! And there is a broken oar. This is | :58:07. | :58:16. | |
terrible. She is waving, Zoe de Toledo, they have lost an oar. | :58:16. | :58:23. | |
Absolute chaos. This is a big decision. The umpire had this | :58:23. | :58:28. | |
before in the Isis-Goldie race, and disqualified one crew. The umpire | :58:28. | :58:33. | |
is allowing this! The umpire will have to make a decision, he must be | :58:33. | :58:38. | |
assuming that it was Oxford's feud, and he is allowing Cambridge to win | :58:38. | :58:44. | |
his boat race. Cambridge are going to win this Boat Race. There cannot | :58:44. | :58:54. | |
row with only seven oars. What did you see, Wayne Pommen? What I saw | :58:54. | :59:00. | |
was that the umpire was warning Oxford. John Garrett was warning | :59:00. | :59:04. | |
Oxford, he did not like where they were on the river, and he is | :59:04. | :59:08. | |
judging that that clash was Oxford's fault. He is letting | :59:08. | :59:13. | |
Cambridge go on, he is saying, Oxford, it was your fault that this | :59:13. | :59:21. | |
happened. Cambridge are going to win. One of the powerhouses for | :59:21. | :59:28. | |
Oxford, Hanno Wienhausen, with no blade at the end of his oar, he is | :59:28. | :59:30. | |
literally a passenger, going through the motions, because they | :59:31. | :59:38. | |
need to maintain that the them. But this as a contest is now over. -- | :59:38. | :59:42. | |
that rhythm. Oxford are bravely trying to carry on, but there is | :59:42. | :59:48. | |
nothing they can do. Cambridge will now win by probably eight or 10 | :59:48. | :59:54. | |
lengths. There is nothing they can do. And for Cambridge, they are now | :59:54. | :59:59. | |
so far clear, they can move across from the Surrey station to the | :59:59. | :00:04. | |
Middlesex station, to the north bank, they can take that line, and | :00:05. | :00:10. | |
they are going to be leading past Dukes Meadow. This was where the | :00:10. | :00:16. | |
clash happened. The umpire was warning. The blade broke and that | :00:16. | :00:25. | |
was game over. Cambridge, the odds were against them, coming up to the | :00:25. | :00:28. | |
point where that swimmer took over, that swimmer has had a huge effect | :00:28. | :00:33. | |
on this race, because Oxford were moving into a leading position. But | :00:33. | :00:37. | |
now, it is race over. Oxford bravely trying to do something, but | :00:37. | :00:47. | |
:00:47. | :00:48. | ||
there is nothing they can do. umpire was warning Oxford. That is | :00:48. | :00:53. | |
how the umpire will see it. This was a boat race full of incident. | :00:53. | :00:56. | |
Oxford will be hugely disappointed that they have not been able to | :00:56. | :01:01. | |
race to their full extent, to carry out their plan. And Cambridge, | :01:02. | :01:07. | |
really, fortunate that all of this has happened, and they can row as | :01:07. | :01:12. | |
they like, all the way home. They are just doing exactly what they | :01:12. | :01:22. | |
:01:22. | :01:29. | ||
aware of what has happened. They will now know that the 158 number | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
arete -- the 158th race is theirs for the taking. This is now an | :01:34. | :01:43. | |
exhibition. There is nothing Oxford can do with seven blades. There was | :01:43. | :01:49. | |
a disruption by a swimmer, and then the commission. The only thing | :01:49. | :01:53. | |
Oxford should be, if I was in that boat, I would be staying -- saying | :01:53. | :02:00. | |
stop rowing. There is nothing you can do. The result would be race | :02:00. | :02:05. | |
not finished, and that would show that something had happened. Race | :02:05. | :02:10. | |
not completed would mean there was clearly an incident. But at the | :02:10. | :02:14. | |
moment, Oxford are trying to finish the race, and they will finish many | :02:14. | :02:19. | |
lengths behind. So we have had an intruder disrupting the race just | :02:19. | :02:23. | |
as it was boiling up to be one of the closest contests, certainly | :02:23. | :02:29. | |
much more than last year's. In 2003, there was just a foot between the | :02:29. | :02:34. | |
two crews, and that is what it may have shaped up to be. On that day, | :02:34. | :02:39. | |
Oxford, who won, where a stone lighter than Cambridge. It was the | :02:40. | :02:43. | |
same today. The ingredients were in place for a classic contest until | :02:43. | :02:49. | |
the finish. Then we had the restart, then the Clash, and now the contest | :02:49. | :02:54. | |
is academic. Nonetheless, it has been the same for both crews. They | :02:54. | :02:59. | |
have all gone through those six months of early mornings, long | :02:59. | :03:05. | |
hours in the gym, long hours on the water in all weather, sometimes the | :03:05. | :03:10. | |
Mercury down as low as minus 40 not one particular weekend. Now a | :03:10. | :03:15. | |
Cambridge are pushing on. This is very sad to see from Oxford's point | :03:15. | :03:20. | |
of view. Sad to see them battling on with only seven men. It is very | :03:20. | :03:25. | |
different to football. If you are down to ten men, you can still win. | :03:25. | :03:30. | |
But here, you have no chance unless it happened within half a minute of | :03:30. | :03:33. | |
the race and they were leading, then there might have been a chance | :03:33. | :03:38. | |
of getting across the line. But here, no chance. The umpire will | :03:38. | :03:43. | |
say he warned them not once, but twice. They continued to steer | :03:43. | :03:48. | |
their course, Zoe De Toledo, and that is the price for what he made | :03:48. | :03:54. | |
term aggressive steering, attacking Cambridge to closely, too fiercely. | :03:54. | :03:57. | |
That is why, as Cambridge University approach the finishing | :03:57. | :04:03. | |
line at the end of this 158th Boat Race, it is victory for Cambridge | :04:03. | :04:07. | |
and victory for their coach in his second year in charge. Controversy | :04:07. | :04:12. | |
will dog this raised about the intruder, about the restart, about | :04:12. | :04:20. | |
the Commission and the broker oar. But the Cambridge, it is all about | :04:20. | :04:25. | |
celebration. Droxford, the winners last year so decisively, -- for | :04:25. | :04:30. | |
Oxford, it is all about what might have been. The against all the odds, | :04:30. | :04:35. | |
Cambridge come home winners, but what incident. What an | :04:35. | :04:39. | |
extraordinary series of events which left Oxford unable to finish | :04:39. | :04:49. | |
:04:49. | :04:50. | ||
their race. It will be good to look back and see how that steering was | :04:50. | :04:54. | |
and where those warnings came. It happened within half a minute of | :04:54. | :05:00. | |
the retake. Oxford were well up and moving up to three-quarters of a | :05:00. | :05:05. | |
length lead. Five times, the race has been held on April 7th before | :05:05. | :05:11. | |
today, and each time Cambridge have won. This is a 6 victory for | :05:11. | :05:15. | |
Cambridge. True, controversial circumstances, but the record books | :05:15. | :05:24. | |
will say this has been Cambridge's day. There was so much washed that | :05:24. | :05:34. | |
:05:34. | :05:42. | ||
I could not move as fast as I said. She said, there was no way we | :05:42. | :05:48. | |
could have a race like this. I was steering as I saw fit. I can't hear | :05:48. | :05:52. | |
what John Garrett is saying. were been -- we were within the | :05:52. | :06:02. | |
:06:02. | :06:21. | ||
Garratt, the white flag. Oxford have complained, but the umpire | :06:21. | :06:29. | |
ruled that it is a clear decision. His decision. Bury controversial, | :06:29. | :06:35. | |
but he has given the race to Cambridge. Oxford were coming over, | :06:35. | :06:42. | |
they were warned, and the clash resulted in their sixth man, person, | :06:42. | :06:48. | |
breaking his blade, allowing Cambridge to take the race -- Hanno | :06:48. | :06:54. | |
Wienhausen broke his blade. Two big moments in this race. The result | :06:54. | :07:00. | |
stands. You have won the Boat Race. This was the first key moment, a | :07:00. | :07:04. | |
man in the water. That's when I was almost in real danger there. Could | :07:04. | :07:10. | |
have lost his life -- that swimmer was in real trouble. Then this was | :07:10. | :07:20. | |
:07:20. | :07:20. | ||
the second incident. He then there was the oar of Hanno Wienhausen. | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
The blade comes off, and that was the contest over. Zoe De Toledo, | :07:24. | :07:29. | |
the cox, argued that she was within her rights, within the first 100 | :07:29. | :07:37. | |
metres of the start. But the umpire was having none of it. Keep going, | :07:37. | :07:44. | |
boys. From the winners' point of view, it doesn't matter. Whatever | :07:44. | :07:50. | |
happens, they rowed like tigers in the race. For them, whatever | :07:51. | :07:56. | |
happened, they were worthy winners in their book. The man standing in | :07:56. | :08:00. | |
that launch in the grey top with the white hat is the gold medallist | :08:00. | :08:06. | |
at Sydney and now winner of his first Boat Race as chief coach of | :08:06. | :08:16. | |
:08:16. | :08:20. | ||
Cambridge University Boat Club. Alex Woods is still collapsed in | :08:20. | :08:24. | |
the back of the boat. They are very worried about him. They are trying | :08:24. | :08:31. | |
to call to get the safety launched over to get him to a doctor. He | :08:31. | :08:38. | |
needs oxygen. They are finally getting him out of the boat. | :08:38. | :08:45. | |
was William Zeng to his rescue. They were trying to help him. But I | :08:45. | :08:48. | |
think they're only just noticed, because he has been lying flat for | :08:48. | :08:56. | |
quite some time. He was at the back. This was a man who was training to | :08:56. | :09:02. | |
be a doctor as well. He is a doctor. But he has been lying collapsed in | :09:02. | :09:06. | |
the back of the boat there for some four or five minutes since they | :09:06. | :09:14. | |
finished the race. That is serious. They have to get oxygen to him and | :09:14. | :09:20. | |
get him to hospital. This has been a race of such incidents. You can | :09:20. | :09:24. | |
see the launch is churning around. Cambridge will be unaware of all of | :09:24. | :09:34. | |
this. They are victors, and they are coming into the bank. They will | :09:34. | :09:42. | |
get ready for the presentation. Oxford were in a position twice | :09:42. | :09:48. | |
where those incidents happened where they were winning. They came | :09:48. | :09:52. | |
up to the island in a position to win. They were moving away when the | :09:52. | :09:55. | |
swimmer hit the water. The advantage was all for them. The | :09:55. | :09:59. | |
race was stopped when it was their advantage. They went back to the | :09:59. | :10:03. | |
start, took off and had half a length before they came together | :10:03. | :10:12. | |
and clashed. And again, broken oars, and the race went against them. | :10:12. | :10:17. | |
From my point of view, Oxford were the faster crew over the whole | :10:17. | :10:27. | |
:10:27. | :10:27. | ||
course. But we shall never know. There start was not good enough, | :10:27. | :10:37. | |
:10:37. | :10:38. | ||
but they had the power. By the time they crossed the line, we had seen | :10:38. | :10:41. | |
the end of but Oxford challenge because of that broken blade. The | :10:41. | :10:48. | |
first man across the line, Dave Nelson, stroke in 2011, bow in 2012 | :10:48. | :10:57. | |
and President as well. And the president at the University. Moritz | :10:57. | :11:02. | |
Schramm, back in the boat, having been 2010 winner. He took a year | :11:02. | :11:12. | |
:11:12. | :11:12. | ||
out last year to concentrate on his studies. Jack Lindeman, Alex Ross. | :11:12. | :11:19. | |
Kiwi, as he is known. And here is the man at the centre of the storm. | :11:19. | :11:26. | |
John Garrett. Umpire, a former Cambridge University Boat Club | :11:26. | :11:33. | |
president, losing oarsmen from 1983, 1984 and 1985. Went on to represent | :11:33. | :11:36. | |
Britain in the Commonwealth Games, Olympics and the world | :11:36. | :11:46. | |
:11:46. | :11:49. | ||
championships. What an extraordinary day. Goldie were | :11:49. | :11:52. | |
beaten by Isis in the reserve crew half an hour earlier. Their race | :11:52. | :11:59. | |
went by without incident, we understand. Cambridge are about to | :11:59. | :12:08. | |
take their boat out of the water. Well, not too many visible signs of | :12:08. | :12:12. | |
celebration from Cambridge, because they are shocked at what happened | :12:12. | :12:17. | |
in that race. This is Dave Nelson, the Cambridge president. | :12:17. | :12:24. | |
Congratulations. You have won. Thanks. It is a huge relief. But it | :12:24. | :12:31. | |
is shocking to see Alex Woods in such a state. He is getting | :12:31. | :12:37. | |
treatment as wispy. What an extraordinary race, with the man in | :12:38. | :12:41. | |
the water and the broken blade for Oxford. | :12:41. | :12:49. | |
Yeah. There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing up until the island. And | :12:49. | :12:53. | |
then suddenly, there was this yelling about an obstruction going | :12:53. | :12:59. | |
on. Next thing you know, I see a guy's head in the middle of the two | :12:59. | :13:05. | |
boats. And there must be 10 or 20 boats following us. So that guy was | :13:05. | :13:14. | |
in serious strife. And then with all the hoo-ha around the restart | :13:14. | :13:21. | |
and then the clash, pretty dramatic race. At what point, if at all, | :13:21. | :13:29. | |
could you start to enjoy it and celebrate? By the Barnes Bridge, | :13:29. | :13:37. | |
the gap was pretty clear. So it suddenly felt like we could relax | :13:37. | :13:41. | |
into are with them a touch. But we are so exhausted. We were just | :13:41. | :13:46. | |
trying to hang on. We will keep you updated on Alex and the rest of the | :13:46. | :13:52. | |
Oxford crew. The Oxford president, Karl Hudspith, is virtually | :13:52. | :13:57. | |
speechless, but congratulating Dave Nelson. John Garratt, the umpire, | :13:57. | :14:02. | |
can I have a word? What on earth was going on out there? Totally | :14:02. | :14:08. | |
unexpected. I am grateful to Matthew for having spotted the swim | :14:08. | :14:13. | |
there. He said, there is something in the water. We thought it was | :14:13. | :14:17. | |
some debris, and then we realised it was a swim there. We were not | :14:17. | :14:21. | |
sure what would happen, whether he would get out of the way in time. | :14:21. | :14:24. | |
Then it was clear that he was waiting for the post to come across | :14:24. | :14:30. | |
him, so I had to stop the race and we start. In terms of the restart | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
and the clash of oars and the damage to the Oxford blade, which | :14:34. | :14:38. | |
was completely snapped off, how clear were you that the race would | :14:38. | :14:43. | |
continue and that you would not call it void altogether? The rules | :14:43. | :14:49. | |
state clearly that crews have to abide by their accidents. If | :14:49. | :14:54. | |
something happens in the latter stages of the race and there is a | :14:54. | :14:59. | |
breakage, they have to abide by their accident unless one of the | :14:59. | :15:05. | |
crew's is of station and has caused that accident. In my judgment, | :15:05. | :15:07. | |
Cambridge were not of their station. In the immediate run-up to the | :15:07. | :15:13. | |
Clash, I was warning Oxford. In my view, Oxford were off their station. | :15:13. | :15:18. | |
The collision took place and Oxford came off worse. But Cambridge were | :15:18. | :15:24. | |
in the white position. So I allowed the race to continue. Zoe De Toledo | :15:24. | :15:29. | |
has just walked past, inconsolable. A desperate moment for her, because | :15:29. | :15:34. | |
there was nothing she could do. But she had to abide by your ruling, | :15:34. | :15:38. | |
which is that the result will stand and Cambridge have won. I suspect | :15:38. | :15:43. | |
that was not what you anticipated. You have played a major part. | :15:43. | :15:46. | |
will be the suffragettes all over again. The rowers will now make | :15:46. | :15:56. | |
:15:56. | :15:58. | ||
You have not cut your hair since this day last year, when you lost | :15:58. | :16:04. | |
the Boat Race. Yes, pretty happy right now. Extraordinary race, | :16:04. | :16:10. | |
great result for you. Yes, we have been going through it all week, | :16:10. | :16:18. | |
saying what we would do in various situations, but I am still not sure | :16:18. | :16:23. | |
exactly what happened. We really fired ourselves up to go again | :16:23. | :16:29. | |
after the restart. And then something else happened, I still do | :16:29. | :16:34. | |
not know what happened, we will have to see the replay. All we | :16:34. | :16:38. | |
could do in that situation was to do what we have been trying to do, | :16:38. | :16:43. | |
which was not to look around, and just keep going. I'm proud of the | :16:43. | :16:49. | |
guys, that we did that. With us now, the youngest person on either crew, | :16:49. | :16:54. | |
Ed Bosson, who kept his cool in incredibly difficult circumstances. | :16:54. | :16:59. | |
I will let you guys make your way up to the presentation podium. | :16:59. | :17:04. | |
Enjoy it. Oxford will have to go through the presentation as well. | :17:04. | :17:11. | |
But what a race, Jonathan! Just a bit. A very muted atmosphere, | :17:11. | :17:16. | |
understandably, I am sure there would have been celebration from | :17:16. | :17:25. | |
Dave Nelson, but having seen the condition of Alexander Woods, and | :17:25. | :17:33. | |
also how upset the rest of that crew is, understandably, because | :17:33. | :17:37. | |
there is such a sense of trust, such a sense of togetherness, built | :17:37. | :17:45. | |
up among the crew, you cannot avoid exactly why you're year, and to see | :17:45. | :17:48. | |
one of your team players being taken away in such a state, it is | :17:48. | :17:58. | |
deeply distressing. Yes, we have not had an update yet on the | :17:58. | :18:06. | |
condition of Alexander Woods, the bow man from Oxford, who was | :18:06. | :18:13. | |
carried out of the boat. For those watching on the world feet, thank | :18:13. | :18:22. | |
you very much for watching. We are waiting now the presentation to the | :18:22. | :18:26. | |
winning crew, and also to the winning crew, and also to the | :18:26. | :18:28. | |
losing crew. You will understand that there will be some delay | :18:29. | :18:34. | |
because, ideally, we would like to see all crew members there, but at | :18:34. | :18:37. | |
the moment, that may not be possible, with Alexander Woods | :18:37. | :18:42. | |
being attended to by medical staff. We wait to hear exactly how or he | :18:42. | :18:47. | |
is. He is training to be a surgeon, he has been at Oxford for 10 years, | :18:47. | :18:56. | |
thoroughly enjoying himself. He started rowing at Oxford, did he | :18:57. | :19:02. | |
not? Yes, he started rowing at Oxford. He learned at his college, | :19:02. | :19:09. | |
and then he graduated to the lightweight squad. He was one of | :19:09. | :19:13. | |
the three lightweights in the Oxford boat. When you're a light | :19:13. | :19:17. | |
weight, you have got to be so efficient and effective, you're | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
working on the absolute edge of your possibility. So, he worked | :19:21. | :19:24. | |
himself out, hopefully it is nothing more serious than | :19:24. | :19:29. | |
exhaustion. He is 12 stone, the lightest man in the race, and you | :19:29. | :19:36. | |
can contrast that with the 17 stone of someone like Steve Dudek. It is | :19:36. | :19:41. | |
a huge difference. Absolutely. Alexander Woods has proved himself, | :19:41. | :19:46. | |
he beat bigger people in the Oxford squad to win that place in the boat, | :19:46. | :19:56. | |
:19:56. | :19:57. | ||
and that was his dream. I am praying that he is recovering. | :19:57. | :20:03. | |
presentation delayed at the moment, but Clare Balding is in place at | :20:03. | :20:07. | |
Mortlake. She is with someone who has been right at the heart of the | :20:07. | :20:12. | |
action. Over to you. Yes, the news is that there will be no | :20:12. | :20:15. | |
presentation, because of Alexander Woods being treated by the medical | :20:15. | :20:20. | |
team. You have been to see him, Matthew. As close as I could get, | :20:20. | :20:29. | |
he was at least sitting upright, he is having medical attention. What | :20:29. | :20:36. | |
more can I say? I did not want to interrupt anything, he is receiving | :20:36. | :20:41. | |
medical attention. But he is conscious and sitting up, and it | :20:41. | :20:45. | |
has been decided that in those circumstances, we should not have a | :20:45. | :20:49. | |
big celebration of Cambridge's win, while Alexander Woods is still | :20:49. | :20:55. | |
being treated. Oxford are obviously very concerned. Extraordinary, I | :20:55. | :21:00. | |
cannot think of enough adjectives to cover what happened out there. | :21:00. | :21:07. | |
Busy. It is hard to imagine a Boat Race could contain so much to talk | :21:07. | :21:16. | |
about. We had an accident, we had a broken blade, we had everything. | :21:16. | :21:20. | |
Cambridge are over here, just trying to assimilate what actually | :21:20. | :21:25. | |
happened in that race, and in some way, enjoy this celebration, | :21:25. | :21:28. | |
without going over the top. I don't think we're going to get the cox | :21:28. | :21:32. | |
being thrown in the river, any of the usual stuff, because it has | :21:32. | :21:37. | |
been so difficult. It has been really so strange. When they have | :21:37. | :21:41. | |
finished talking to each other, we will try to get a few more words | :21:41. | :21:46. | |
from them. But Matthew, in terms of the difficulties out there for the | :21:46. | :21:50. | |
rowers, we had the there's a in the river, then we had the clash of | :21:50. | :22:00. | |
:22:00. | :22:01. | ||
oars. -- the swimmer. Really difficult to be stopped, and then | :22:01. | :22:09. | |
having the restart. They had to try to get back into position. Then you | :22:09. | :22:13. | |
had all the Wash, it was quite a cold day, lots of people getting | :22:13. | :22:21. | |
cold. Then there was the confusion about when it was going to restart. | :22:21. | :22:27. | |
How quickly the tide has come in, I am worried about your shoes. Here | :22:27. | :22:32. | |
with me now, the biggest man of either crew, Steve Dudek. | :22:32. | :22:36. | |
Congratulations - what have you said to each other? Just have a | :22:36. | :22:42. | |
little bit of class, the best goes out to Alex, we hope he is or right. | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
We have basically just established that it is a little bit more low- | :22:46. | :22:50. | |
key, our thoughts are with him. are hearing much better things | :22:50. | :22:57. | |
about him now. Steve Trapmore, you have won the race, your second year | :22:57. | :23:01. | |
of coaching the team, but it is a bit flat. Yes, I guess it is not | :23:01. | :23:08. | |
the ideal way that anybody wants to win. We are more worried about the | :23:09. | :23:12. | |
state of Alexander Woods at the moment. We will reflect more on the | :23:12. | :23:18. | |
race later on. How proud were you of your guys, and your young cox, | :23:18. | :23:23. | |
Ed Bosson, for keeping their heads? Very, actually. We have been doing | :23:23. | :23:27. | |
a lot of preparation for this race, looking through past races where | :23:27. | :23:32. | |
there have been restarts and stuff. So we were totally prepared. The | :23:32. | :23:41. | |
guys did themselves proud today. Well done. A very, very strange | :23:41. | :23:47. | |
atmosphere. As Steve Dudek was saying, none of the Cambridge crew | :23:47. | :23:51. | |
are wanting to jump up and down, because Alexander Woods is still | :23:51. | :23:55. | |
being treated, and because it was such an extraordinary race. They | :23:55. | :23:59. | |
had to restart, and then they had to go through the second half of | :23:59. | :24:07. | |
the race, during which there was a clash of blades are, and Hanno | :24:07. | :24:10. | |
Wienhausen's blade snapped off completely, after which Cambridge | :24:10. | :24:16. | |
went on to win convincingly. And after the finish, Oxford's | :24:16. | :24:19. | |
Alexander Woods collapsed. However he is now sitting up, and he is | :24:19. | :24:26. |