Cheers. Sir Matthew enjoys some Auriol Kensington Rowing Club hospitality (there were chocolate biscuits as well).

Tim Koch writes:

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, there is only one thing in life worse than being tweeted about – and that is not being tweeted about. Sir Matthew Pinsent is very keen on Twitter where @matthewcpinsent has over 62,000 followers. I had always hoped that one day he would tweet something along the lines of ‘I saw Tim rowing today, he reminds me of a young Redgrave (Steve, not Vanessa)’. Sadly, this has not happened (yet) but he does admire my tea making – as this tweet from 23 March shows:

Matthew Pinsent @matthewcpinsent

Mar 23 Cracking cup of tea round @akrowing

Matthew was in Auriol Kensington Rowing Club at Hammersmith with a BBC crew to film inserts for the Boat Race broadcast on 11 April.

Matthew interviews Barry Davies, a veteran multi-sport commentator, best known to British football fans but also ‘The Voice of the Boat Race’ between 1993 and 2004.

Matthew interviews Gary Herbert, ‘the cox that cried’ after winning the Coxed Pairs at Barcelona in 1992. He is now a rowing commentator for the BBC and was part of a very effective commentary box ‘double act’ with the late Dan Topolski. Gary was ‘the excitable one’ while Dan was ‘the cool one’.

On the same day, Matthew also tweeted:

Matthew Pinsent @matthewcpinsent

Mar 23 Happy birthday Sir Steve Redgrave #53

It is a co-incidence that Britain’s two greatest Olympians should both be born on 23 March. Sir Steve (five Olympic and nine World Golds) also shares his birthday with cycling’s Sir Chris Hoy (six Olympic and eleven World Golds). Also in this club are runner, Mo Farah (two Olympic and three World Golds) and Sir Roger Bannister (the first man to break the four-minute-mile). Are they any good at making tea though?

A statue of Richard III, sited outside Leicester Cathedral.

Tim Koch has spent a day in Leicester:

Perhaps the above picture brings to mind the opening lines of Shakespeare’s Richard III:

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour’d upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

It could have escaped few people’s notice that in 2012 the remains of Richard III, King of England from June 1483 to August 1485, were found under a car park in the English East Midlands city of Leicester and have just been reinterred in the city’s Cathedral. Between 23 and 25 March, the coffin holding the remains was ‘in Repose’ in Leicester Cathedral for the public to view and over 20,000 people, including myself, filed past the casket during this time. Earlier, more than 35,000 people turned out to see the cortege parade through parts of Leicestershire. A group called The Plantagenet Alliance,  made up of distant relatives of Richard, had previously got a High Court review of the licence to reinter the bones in Leicester as they wanted the remains buried in York but they eventually lost their case.

Tim, photobombed by King Richard III, the Last Plantagenet.

I was the only weirdo who thought it appropriate to wear a suit to a funereal occasion held in a cathedral for a king. I chose the purple tie as it is the colour of kings and bishops while the white rose is the symbol of Richard’s House of York. Despite this sartorial effort, I, like most of those present, was compelled more by witnessing a unique event than by honouring a long-dead monarch. It is not often that you can attend part of the internment of a medieval king. It was a slightly surreal experience with a dash of eccentricity thrown in.

Until very recently, most of us probably knew only a few things about Richard. From the mnemonic to recall of the colours of the rainbow, British people who went to school in the olden days may remember that ‘Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain’. What else? He was an inherently evil schemer, he was a hunchback, he offered to exchange his kingdom for a horse and he murdered his young nephews, ‘the Princes in the Tower’. The rediscovery of his body, lost for five centuries, has led to a lot of people questioning these and other supposed facts.

The line outside Leicester Cathedral to view the casket passes Richard’s statue, festooned with white roses.

A tribute laid at the statue. The card reads: ‘With dignity and honour – remembering King Richard III. Loyaulté me lie. The Notts and Derby Group, Richard III Society.’ The old French phrase is Richard’s motto, ‘Loyalty binds me’.

The Richard III Society was founded in 1924 ‘in the belief that many features of the traditional accounts of the character and career of Richard III are neither supported by sufficient evidence nor reasonably tenable, the Society aims to promote…. research into (his) life and times … and to secure a reassessment of… (his role) in English history’.

I do not intend to present the cases for and against Richard, save to say that it is likely that history has misrepresented him to a greater or lesser extent for at least two reasons. First and famously, ‘history is written by the victors’. The Tudors who defeated and succeeded the Plantagenets were anxious to secure their tenuous claim to the throne and soon established their self-serving version of events as ‘the facts’. Secondly, Shakespeare’s play may be a literary masterpiece but the Bard did not let the truth get in the way of a good story. Even the famous ‘Kingdom for a horse’ line (which was not intended to mock Richard) has been commonly interpreted as the offer of a foolish swap by a foolish man. In fact Shakespeare’s Richard means that for the want of a horse from which he can rally his troops, the battle (and hence the Kingdom) will be lost.

A sign at the entrance to the Cathedral. Sadly, some people have to be told how to behave with some degree of dignity in a church.

As we entered the Cathedral, a long suffering official told us that we could take photographs but ‘….one only please and no selfies or group pictures with the coffin’. This was a disappointment for some, perhaps. Filing past the casket, everyone around me was holding up their smart phones but, while accepting the fact that the deceased had been cold for 500 years, I could not bring myself to take pictures. I was clearly in a minority, even though the queue was largely middle-aged, middle-class and middle-England.

Richard ‘in Repose’ at a quieter time. The coffin is of English oak. On top are a crown and a bible that was printed in Richard’s lifetime. The pall (cloth cover) includes scenes from his life including some modern faces such as that of the lead archaeologist. Picture: kingrichardinleicester.com

Exiting the Cathedral by a side door, I came upon the charming Guildhall (right) which dates from 1390. It was the town hall for the city until late Victorian times.

How a King of England, the last to die in battle and the first to be DNA tested, ended up lost under what became the Leicester Social Services car park is a long and complex story, one that I will attempt to make short and simple.

Richard was born in 1452 and his entire life was dominated by what later became known as the Wars of the Roses, a series of conflicts for the throne of England between Richard’s House of York and the opposing House of Lancaster. It was never expected that Richard should become king; indeed he was a loyal supporter of his older brother, King Edward IV. When Edward died unexpectedly in April 1483, his successor was his 12-year-old son, also Edward. The late king’s will designated Richard to rule as Protector while the boy was still underage but his widow, the queen, and her family moved to crown the boy Edward V at once. This would have rendered Richard’s protectorate unnecessary and would have enabled the queen’s family to rule on the boy king’s behalf. However, before Edward’s coronation he was suddenly declared illegitimate by an assembly of lords and commoners and was thus ineligible to be monarch. This legal authority then invited Richard to assume the role of King and he was crowned in July 1483. A month after Richard’s coronation, Edward and his younger brother were not seen in public again and rumours circulated that the new king had ordered the murder of the ‘Princes in the Tower’ (though it should be noted that the Tower was a palace, not a prison). While Richard is an obvious suspect, nowadays many consider the case against him ‘not proven’ and point out that there were others with at least as good a motive, if not better.

Anthony Sher’s 1984 interpretation of Shakespeare’s Richard played as a monstrous six-legged insect. This is perhaps the most blatant use of the idea of a physical deformity as the embodiment of an evil mind. Picture: robertarood.files.wordpress.com

Richard made a number of progressive reforms in his 777 day reign, particularly to English law, including the presumption of ‘innocent until proven guilty’. However, his taking of the crown, the disappearance of Edward’s sons and the execution of several leading nobles lead to discontent and rebellions. In August 1485, the Lancastrian, Henry Tudor defeated Richard in battle at Bosworth Field, just outside of Leicester. The victor became Henry VII and the Tudor Age began. Richard’s body was publicly displayed in Leicester and then given to a group of Franciscan friars for hasty burial. With the dissolution of the monasteries fifty years later, all records and markers pertaining to Richard’s grave were lost for the next five centuries.

I am not too well-read on this period but I will venture the opinion that it was a positive thing that Richard was defeated at Bosworth as this led to the Tudor era, a period of great and important change, most notably the break with Rome.

The car park where Richard’s body was found. It was buried at the far end as pictured here. The Internet was full of jokes about 500 years of parking fines. Picture: historyextra.com.

Today, the original grave has been left open but covered with a sheet of glass. This in turn is enclosed by a specially constructed room which connects to the building pictured on the left above, an old school which is now the Visitor Centre. It has all been done exceptionally well and the architects responsible for the transformation of this uninspiring scene explain their work here.

It is difficult to photograph well, but this is Richard’s former grave today, under a sheet of glass that can be walked on by visitors. A hologram projects an image of a skeleton on the spot where Richard’s remains were found. A drain was laid very close to the grave in the 1920s and could have easily destroyed it. The feet were probably lost in Victorian times when a basement was dug nearby.

The Richard III Visitor Centre is not a museum as it has nothing contemporary with Richard to display. Apart from the grave site, it has two levels. The first, dark and atmospheric, tells the story of Richard and his times. The second is bright and airy and tells of the science behind the project and of Richard’s reputation and legacy today. The idea is that people make up their own mind about the man and the myth.

A copy of Richard’s remains on display in the Visitor Centre.

Richard’s skeleton clearly shows his scoliosis, a curved spine and some twisted and misshapen vertebra. He was not a ‘hunchback’ but he would have had one shoulder higher than the other. This did not stop him leading his troops in battle and fighting in full armour. Even today, up to 3% of the population have scoliosis, including the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt.

A copy of Richard’s skull showing that he had six wounds to the head. Lower down, what is euphemistically called ‘a pelvis injury’ was in fact a ‘humiliation wound’ inflicted after death when a sword or dagger was thrust where the sun of York don’t shine. A video on Richard’s injuries is on the Guardian website.

CSI Leicester. A facial reconstruction of Richard III made by the forensic department of the University of Dundee using scans of his skull.

Although the four pictures below may give another impression, Leicester has not been too crass in exploiting the Richard connection and most of the commercial and commemorative activities have been reasonably restrained and/or tasteful. On the ceremonial front, the problem must have been that there was simply no precedent for such an occasion. Because of this it was probably inevitable that some of the rituals may have been a little forced or even downright peculiar but the British are particularly skilled at giving the impression that something invented recently has in fact existed forever.

Highbrow….

….and lowbrow.

Cool shades….

….. and warm beer.

In conclusion, few would deny that, until very recently at least, history has not been kind to Richard III. Strangely, it is another Shakespeare play, Julius Caesar that may sum up his fate:

The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones.

Daniel Spring, Henley Boat Races Press Officer, writes in a press release: 

On 31 March, at the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, under the watchful eye of the Master of Ceremonies, Robert Trehane-Jones, the President of Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club, Andy Saul, challenged his counterpart from Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club, Gio Bergamo Andreis to ‘an eight-oared race over 2,000 metres on the Henley reach next Sunday’.

This year marks a milestone for the men’s Lightweight Boat Race. It is 40 years since the first race took place on the iconic Henley course, and Richard Bates, the founder of the race, returns this year to present the prizes.

The Lightweight women of Oxford and Cambridge celebrated the 30th anniversary of their race in 2014, and this year’s Captain of the Cambridge University Lightweights, Ella Barnard, issued the same challenge of ‘an eight-oared race over 2,000 metres on the Henley reach next Sunday’ to Oxford’s President, Joanna Green.

With both challenges duly accepted the focus now turns to the races themselves to be held on Easter Sunday. The schedule for the races is as follows:

1:30 p.m. Collegiate Women’s Race – Green Templeton College, Oxford v Christ’s College, Cambridge

2:00 p.m. Collegiate Men’s Race – Oriel College, Oxford v Jesus College, Cambridge

2:30 p.m. University Lightweight Women’s Boat Race

3:00 p.m. University Lightweight Men’s Boat Race

3:30 p.m. Commemorative Row Past of 1985 CUWBC Lightweights

4:15 p.m. Presentation of Trophies

This year’s Oxford men’s crew includes two athletes, Sooraj Mahesh of St. Peter’s College and Alec Trigger of Oriel, who first learnt to row at University. In the 6 seat for Oxford is Ed Stace from Otago, who rowed in the NZ Youth Olympic Crew in 2006. The Light Blues have the more cosmopolitan crew with Tim Rademacher, of Germany, at bow and his fellow countryman, Moritz Matthey, in the 3 seat and Raffaele Nicholas Russo, of Italy, in the 7 seat.

In the Women’s boats, Oxford are coxed by the experienced American Ayesha Rasheed, who coxed the Stanford University Women’s Varsity crew. They have one returning Blue from last year’s victorious crew, Becky Lane. Cambridge have two returning Blues, Christina Ostacchini and coxswain Prya Crosby. They also have 2014 Oxford Blue, Emma Clifton in the 7 seat.

For updates and more information please contact Daniel Spring on 07828 190476, or click here.

A sign that summer is coming. Members of the Stewards’ Enclosure have recently received their badges for the 2015 Henley Royal Regatta, 1 – 5 July.

Tim Koch writes:

A large part of the non-rowing world probably thinks that Henley Royal Regatta is run by a lot of old gentlemen whose most recent contact with technology was trying to tune a wireless into the BBC Home Service. Even some oarsmen suspect that the Regatta suffers from ‘technofear’ when they discover that it cannot generally be communicated with by e-mail. However, like most things that have been around for a long time and appear to be the same as they always were, Henley survives by slowly and subtly changing, adopting reforms only when they are certain that they are not part of some passing fashion. Traditionally, the Stewards, who run the Regatta, take delight in being a little ‘cussed’ and behind the times but ultimately they will act in the best interests of the event and adapt to a changing world. After a late, long and slow introduction, women’s rowing is now an integral part of Henley and any new events are likely to be for women. In this pioneering spirit, the Stewards have now decided to recognise that both the internet and moving pictures are probably here to stay. An e-mail recently sent to members of the Stewards’ Enclosure announced:

After a break of more than 30 years, the Stewards of Henley Royal Regatta are excited to announce that live coverage of all five days of racing at the 2015 Regatta will be produced in High Definition and streamed online, globally.

The start.

The Regatta website had this Frequently Asked Questions section about the innovation:

What is happening?
The Committee of Management of Henley Royal Regatta has contracted Sunset+Vine, a leading international television production company, to produce, in High Definition, live coverage of the racing on all five days of the 2015 Regatta. The pictures will be streamed on the HRR website, on the HRR Official YouTube channel and to screens that will be in the Fawley, Members and Floating Grandstands. Sunset+Vine will be using cameras of an international television broadcast standard, to cover the whole of the race course as well as the atmosphere off the water.

Where can I watch?
The live stream will be on the HRR website and the HRR Official YouTube Channel. This will be free to view, and streamed wherever in the world that YouTube is available. Members and their guests attending the Regatta itself will be able to watch the live racing in the Stewards Enclosures whilst in the Grandstands.

Can I watch it on my mobile/tablet when elsewhere at the Regatta?
This is really a question for mobile service providers as data delivery capacity is not within the control of the Regatta. However, we expect that due to the limitations of mobile network coverage in Henley during the Regatta, watching on handheld devices is unlikely to be possible in either the Enclosures or the car parks.

Will every race be covered in full?
From Wednesday up to Friday lunchtime most of the races are at five-minute intervals, whereas the average length of a race is approximately seven minutes. Each race will therefore be quickly edited to show the start and a clip from early stages before joining the race live for the second half of the course. From Friday lunchtime onwards when the Regatta moves to 10-minute intervals it is our intention that every race will be streamed live from start to finish.

The finish.

Can I watch races after they have gone out live?
All the races will be edited individually and posted on the HRR Official YouTube Channel and put into playlists by event and day in 1080p High Definition. There will be a 20-minute round up highlights programme that will be available on demand within an hour of the end of each day’s racing.

Will there be commentary?
The Stewards’ Enclosure commentary will remain unchanged. On the live stream there will be a different commentary team and they will cover every race. The pictures in the grandstands will be shown without sound.

As a competitor can I watch the coverage anywhere on site?
Work is ongoing to assess the feasibility of the installation of a screen on which competitors can watch the racing live without risk of overcrowding. Space in the boat tents, changing rooms, rest room and warm up areas is already fully utilised, but the Stewards hope to find a practical solution.

Why are the Stewards doing this?
When asked in the Membership survey in 2010, more than half of the Members of the Stewards’ Enclosure expressed an interest in seeing live coverage of the Regatta produced. The Regatta has been broadcast before. Pathé, the BBC and ITV have all produced coverage of the event. The last Regatta covered live was in 1968, and the last Regatta from which highlights were broadcast was in 1976. In fact much of this footage is already on YouTube. Advances in production technology since the 1970s (including for example the development of cameras which transmit pictures over radio frequencies rather than cables) mean that the Regatta can now produce live coverage more efficiently. The Committee of Management believes it to be important that we enhance the experience of the Regatta enjoyed by our Members and their guests, by providing live coverage of the racing in the Stewards’ Enclosure. The Committee of Management also believes it to be important, in a digital age, to provide the opportunity for Members and their guests, as well as competitors and a wider audience, to enjoy the opportunity to view the racing away from the Regatta both during the event and afterwards. In order to maximise the opportunity for as wide an audience as possible to enjoy the racing at the Regatta, including the many rowing fans around the world who cannot visit Henley in person, the decision has therefore been taken to broadcast the coverage on YouTube, the world’s largest video platform.

Smile, you’re on TV!

This is a bold but carefully thought out move by the Regatta. I am particularly pleased that the Stewards’ Enclosure commentary will be unchanged and that the grandstand pictures will be shown without sound. Most importantly, within the Stewards’ Enclosure, screens will only be installed in the grandstands. One of the clever aspects of the Enclosure is that members and their guests can watch racing or eat and drink – but not both at the same time. If screens were put in the bars and restaurants, the interruptions would spoil what the Stewards call ‘the unique social atmosphere’. Those clever people who run Henley Royal Regatta may have found a way of successfully maintaining an Edwardian Garden Party in a Digital Age.

Winning photographs in the “We Sweat ~ We Strive ~ We Row” contest. Photos: worldrowing.com

The winning crew at this year’s Women’s Eights Head of the River Race was the combination Army BC/Imperial College BC/London RC/Marlow RC/Minerva-Bath RC/Oxford Brookes University BC/Southampton Coalporters ARC. Second crew to cross the finish line was Leander Club A. Find all the results here.

Leander Club I was the first crew to cross the finish line at this year’s men’s Head of the River Race. Leander was well ahead of Molesey I, which was 17 seconds behind. Read the results here.

More than 500 photographs were sent in to the World Rowing’s photo contest “We Sweat ~ We Strive ~ We Row”, which was organised in conjunction with the 2015 International Women’s Day to show support for women in rowing around the globe. ‘The photos’, World Rowing writes in its latest Newsletter, ‘demonstrated truly incredible passion for the sport in a variety of ways.’ World Rowing continues: ‘Six photos were randomly chosen as the “winners” and [. . .] these photos came from Beatriz Garroux, Brooke Mooney, Bruce Jenkins, Samaakhya Gajanayake, Ed Dobento and Little big rower.’ Congratulations to the winners! Read more about “We Sweat ~ We Strive ~ We Row” here.

Tim Koch asks the question:

Who Would Win This Easter Race?

The rabbits. They jump the start. The chicks are slow to feather.

Tim Koch writes:

HTBS has written on the subject of rowing clubs and War Memorials many times before. We have covered the monuments of British clubs Vesta, Marlow, Carrickfergus,  Auriol and Kensington, and the four Nottingham clubs. Further afield, we have written about the impressive plaques in Vancouver Rowing Club in Canada and the wonderful outdoor monuments in Victoria, Australia.

I have often speculated what similar memorials exist, if any, in the defeated countries of both World Wars, the Central Powers of 1914-1918 and the Axis Powers of 1939-1945. A recent purchase from a German postcard dealer gave me at least one answer.

Click to enlarge.

The inscription on the memorial translates as something like:

IN MEMORY OF

OUR COMRADES WHO FELL IN THE

WORLD WAR 1914 – 18

THE ROWING CLUB GERMANY

Presumably the names of the dead are on one or more plaques on the side(s). Ruder-Verein Deutschland (‘The Rowing Club Germany’) was founded in 1884 and in 1947 merged with Rudergesellschaft Hanover-Linden (‘The Rowing Society of Hanover-Linden’) founded in 1899. Together they now form the Deutscher Ruderclub von 1884 e.V. Hannover (‘The German Rowing Club of 1884’). It is based in Hanover, Lower Saxony, on the river Leine, a tributary of the Ihme.

Something from happier times at Ruder-Verein Deutschland. A beer stein from 1895.

Returning to the postcard, it apparently shows a simple but dignified and moving ceremony. It seems to have been taken in a period of silence and reflection and this comes over strongly. I find one thing that seems rather strange about the photograph, I get the impression that the fourteen men we see were the only people present, bar the photographer. Were there more who were simply out of the picture – or are these men the remnants of Ruder-Verein Deutschland as it existed five years earlier, the others lost in the ‘War to End All Wars’?

A manly handshake from 1881.

Tim Koch writes:

The build-up to Boat Race Day 2015 has begun in earnest, the anticipatory mood assisted by bright and warm conditions. Monday, 6 April to Friday, 10 April is ‘Tideway Week’ for the 2015 Oxford – Cambridge Boat Race crews, a period when they spend the last few days before the big event on the 4 1/4 miles of river that will, for many, define their university years. This year there are twice as many blue clad students going up, down, around and, in the case of the Oxford women, under the world’s most famous rowing course. This is because, for the first time, both the heavyweight Oxford and Cambridge women’s first and reserve boats will race over the same Putney to Mortlake course as their male counterparts (and, in the case of the top boats, on the same day). Previously the heavyweight women raced each other over 2000 metres on the Henley Reach, usually a week before the considerably older and more famous event on the Thames Tideway. This change is more than one of distance and venue though. It is also one of financial parity with the men, meaning that Oxbridge women’s rowing can now enjoy the benefits of professionalism thirty years after the men first began the move away from the age of the Victorian gentleman-amateur.

The women’s Presidents. Oxford’s Anastasia Chitty (left) and Caroline Reid of Cambridge (right). Picture: The Boat Race Company.

Proper funding for the women can only benefit both the race and the sport itself. One of the problems of the Boat Race is that, while it is the most high profile rowing event in Britain (and probably the world outside of an Olympic year), its perceived ‘exclusivity’ adds to the ‘image problem’ of both Universities and the sport of rowing. This is perhaps inevitable as the race is a strange, tradition bound and private match between two institutions with (naturally) very restrictive entry requirements. However, at least by including representatives of the half of humankind that it previously excluded, Boat Race Day may be viewed as at least a little more inclusive than it was previously.

The men’s Presidents. Constantine Louloudis of Oxford (left) and Alexander Leichter of Cambridge (right). Picture: The Boat Race Company.

The journey to the Tideway is a long and difficult one, beginning on the Cam and the Isis, and progressing to Ely and Wallingford via the gym and the ergo room. For those that do well in these places, their first visit to the Thames Tideway comes long before April’s Tideway Week.

December: Trail Eights
To quote my Trials report of 11 December 2014:

These were not contests of Light Blue v Dark Blue, they were intra-university races, Oxford racing Oxford and Cambridge racing Cambridge, where the last sixteen rowers and last two coxswains from each university battle it out in theoretically matched boats, all eighteen hoping to impress the coach who has to make the final selection. This is the only time that the candidates for the Blue Boats will race the full course and the Trials are an important learning experience for athletes and coxes and an intense selection test, especially as it gives some indication of how individuals may cope with race day pressure.

Cambridge Women’s Trial Eights in December. Theoretically matched?

Post Christmas Fixtures
To quote the excellent Boat Race website: http://theboatraces.org

In the final preparations for The BNY Mellon Boat Races, each of the four clubs will pit themselves against some of the best domestic and international competition.  This will give racing experience to the Blue Boat and Reserve Crew line-ups, aid the coaches in finalising selection difficulties and fuel anticipation of this year’s Races on April 11^th. 

Each of these fixtures are linked to their race reports on theboatraces.org.

25 January: Cambridge University Women’s Boat Club (CUWBC) v Newcastle University. Although crews from Newcastle University should never be underestimated, the Light Blues had comfortable victories in three pieces over the course.

23 February: Oxford University Women’s Boat Club v Molesey Boat Club. As was the case with the CUBC race a month earlier, what should have been a strong challenge to the Blues was convincingly dismissed in each of the three races.

9 March: CUWBC v Imperial College. A much more evenly matched fight this time. The first race was judged a draw while Cambridge eventually won the second by 2/3 length.

Cambridge and Imperial at Hammersmith Bridge

15 March: Cambridge University Boat Club (CUBC) v Leander Club. In the first piece, CUBC won what was initially a tight race by 2 1/2 lengths but had less trouble in the second contest, winning by four lengths.

21 March: Oxford University Boat Club (OUBC) v Molesey Boat Club. In an impressive show of strength, Oxford beat Molesey ‘comfortably’ in a race to Chiswick steps and were victors again in the other two pieces in which MBC had a head start.

21 March: CUBC v Netherlands Eight. The Dutch eight is their ‘priority boat’ so Cambridge must have been please to fight off strong challenges from them in two pieces in rough Tideway conditions.

23 March: OUWBC v Imperial College. Another tough fight by Imperial but Oxford beat them in both pieces by four lengths in the first and by one length in the second.

The 2015 Blue Boat Crews. Picture: The Boat Race Company.

The men’s crew lists are here for the Blues and here for the Reserves. The women are listed here for the Blues and here for the Reserves. There is always particular interest from the non-rowing public about the number of foreigners and internationals taking part in this British institution, many seeming to think it is a ‘new’ or ‘unfair’ phenomenon – when it is neither. A press release however, gives them the information that they want:

Both Oxford crews feature a range of international athletes….. In the Men’s Blue Boat, the O’Connor brothers from New Zealand and Tom Swartz, Michael Di Santo and William Hakim from America back up the British athletes William Geffin, Henry Goodier, James Cook and Constantine Louloudis.

The Women’s Boat mainly consists of American and British athletes, with an addition of Swiss born Nadine Graedel Iberg…… Caryn Davies, who will be the most decorated Olympian to compete in either of The Boat Races having won a silver and two golds at the Athens, Beijing and London Olympic Games, will sit in the stroke seat.

In comparison to the 2014 Cambridge Women’s crew, this year’s Blue Boat boasts a variety of different nationalities, with Canadian Ashton Brown, Americans Daphne Martschenko and Rosemary Ostfeld and Fanny Belais of France. 

Tideway Week, Tuesday. The CUWBC stern: Ostfeld (cox), Evans (stroke), Martschenko (7) and Hill (6).

CUWBC and coach Baker pass the Mile Post.

CUWBC at Barnes Bridge. The novelty of close press attention may (or may not) be wearing thin.

Once again, Ian Middleton has secured his coxing seat in the Cambridge Men’s Blue Boat, joined by fellow Brit William Warr…..  Henry Hoffstot returns as stroke, supported by fellow Americans and returning Blues, Luke Juckett, Matthew Jackson and first-time Blue, Ben Ruble.

Interestingly, a number of returning Blues did not get places this year, an indication of the strength and depth that increasing professionalism brings. It is good to see that the luckless Juckett is back after a disastrous crab was forced upon him in last year’s race.

CUBC practices starts from coach Trapmore’s launch.

Not a lot of hard work is done in Tideway Week but here CUBC do a short burst.

Goldie, the Cambridge men’s reserves.

No doubt Cambridge will be hoping for a repeat of their success in the Henley Boat Races (for Oxford and Cambridge lightweight crews) on Easter Sunday when the women won by three feet and the men by one foot more. A report with an Oxford slant is in the online Cherwell while, if you prefer your coverage in a lighter shade of blue, the Varsity Online is for you. Due to indifferent ‘A’ Level results, I have no bias at all, even though there are no Oxford pictures in this piece. I hope to correct this in the next few days of Tideway Week – as well as working on my sun tan.

Photo: Tim Koch.

Daniel Spring, Press Officer of the 2015 Henley Boat Races, gives this race report in a press release:

Easter Sunday dawned a beautiful spring day, a great relief for organisers as the day before saw white horses on the Henley stretch making the course virtually unrowable. Instead the crowds that flocked to the banks of the Thames were treated to some of the best racing for years.

The afternoon kicked off with the women’s and men’s collegiate races. In the women’s race it was Christ’s College, Cambridge, against Green Templeton College, Oxford. In a close fought contest it was the crew from Christ’s who struck the first blow for Cambridge taking the race by ¾ length. For the men’s race, it was Jesus College, Cambridge, up against Oriel College, Oxford. The men from Oxford took control of the race from the off and never looked in trouble. The eventual verdict of 3 lengths was somewhat larger than necessary as the crew from Jesus mistook a spectator’s air horn for that of the finish judge, and stopped rowing some 20 to 30 metres before the line.

Next up was the first of the Varsity Boat races, the lightweight women. All the crew weighed-in during the morning and had to hit the maximum of 59kg. In these races there is a minimum weight for the coxswain of 49kg.

Sitting on the start-line, the crews’ nerves were evident as pleasure cruisers delayed the start by a few minutes. When they eventually got away the light blues of Cambridge established a strong rhythm and sneaked into a lead of a few feet. At Fawley, they had extended this to a canvas, but there was really nothing in it. Oxford hung on and both crews traded blows all the way down the course. Coming into the final 100 metres, Oxford launched a huge attack and narrowed Cambridge’s lead to 1 foot. But, Cambridge held them and responded in kind in the final few strokes to take the win by just 3 feet in a time of 6.26.

It was then the men’s turn. Word on the towpath was that there was very little to choose between these two crews, and so it turned out. Right from the start Umpire Peter Knowles was kept busy as coxswains Alistair Nelson for Cambridge and Thomas Clode for Oxford battled for the fastest stream. Cambridge had the better start and edged into a narrow lead. By Fawley, they had extended this to 1/3 length. But, the Dark Blues would not let them get away and held the Cambridge charge. All the way down the course it was nip and tuck, Cambridge always holding a narrow lead, responding to any push that Oxford made. For their part the Dark Blues steadfastly refused to allow the Light Blues to get more than a few feet lead. Coming into the finish, Oxford mounting a huge charge and closed the gap to just a few feet with blades interlocking as they had done for most of the course. Inevitably there was a clash of blades just before the line. Neither crew knew who had won when they crossed the line and Clode in the Oxford coxswain’s seat raised his hand to appeal to the umpire claiming the clash had impeded his crew. After an anxious few minutes wait the man in charge, Peter Knowles, dismissed their appeal and the result was declared as a win for Cambridge by 4 feet in a time of 5.55.

So it was 3 wins from 4 races for Cambridge meaning they took the Francombe Cup for the most successful university on the day, presented by race founder, Richard Bates. Temple Island Meadow was a sea of Light Blue celebrating a double win in the lightweight races for the first time since 2001.

Yesterday’s post was headed by a couple of hearty Victorian oarsmen engaged in a manly handshake. This is a slightly more camp view of some Boat Race participants from a card given away with Churchman’s Cigarettes in the 1950s.

Tim Koch writes:

The first three days of Tideway Week have been delightfully warm and calm making it very pleasant for rowers and observers alike. Typically though, the forecast is that it will get increasingly warmer throughout the week – but will revert to more typical April weather by Boat Race Day on Saturday.

Tab* alert! I have again failed to take any pictures (bar one) of Oxford and, as yesterday, have spent most of my time following the Cambridge women around. This is not a deliberate or dubious policy on my part, the Light Blue Ladies and I just seem to keep the same hours. I will make greater efforts to darken my Blues tomorrow.

The Cambridge Women’s Blue Boat (CUWBC) and their Reserve Boat (Blondie) went out with coach Rob Baker and a press launch in the morning.

CUWBC and the press launch pass the Mile Post.

This sort of close and constant attention is new to the women but rowers tend to be fairly stoical types and they appear to be coping well with the ‘goldfish bowl’ that is Tideway Week.

CUWBC passing under Hammersmith Bridge. Their unconventional rig can clearly be seen. Stroke or port side has stroke, 5, 3 and bow while bow or starboard side has 7, 6, 4 and 2.

Moving away from Hammersmith Bridge.

The end of the outing. The little platform is so that those on the press launch can come ashore with dry feet. In the days when boatmen were cheap and plentiful (and rubber boots were not) it was common for them to wheel such devices into place when oarsmen were going out or coming in. The ‘Ladies In Red’ are from Professional Sports Group, an international sports marketing agency that handles sponsorship, marketing, PR and event management for the Boat Race.

Who has the biggest puddle? Blondie pass under Hammersmith Bridge. The stroke and the even numbers are on ‘bow’ or starboard side and the bow and the odd numbers are on ‘stroke’ or port side. This rig supports the idea that the American’s unambiguous use of ‘port’ and ’starboard’ is more sensible than the British use of ‘stroke side’ and ‘bow side’.

There is more media attention than usual on this Boat Race as it is the first to have the women’s Blue Boats racing on the Putney to Mortlake course and also doing it on the same day as the men. The women’s Reserve Boats will race the course on the day before though (strangely) their male counterparts still get to compete on the same day as the First Boats.

Japanese television takes an interest in the Oxford Women.

An alfresco interview. The light blue and dark blue railings along Putney Embankment are a permanent feature, not just for Boat Race Day.

Ready for your close up?

In the press launch: Chris Dodd, former rowing correspondent of the Guardian and the Independent and Rachel Quarrell of the Daily Telegraph. Rowing journalism (and the sport itself) would be considerably poorer without their varied and continuing efforts.

The press launch, 2015.

The press launch, 1880. If they had a sponsor 135 years ago, it would probably be Churchman’s Cigarettes.

The splendid ‘Dove’ pub on the Hammersmith riverside has started its own countdown to Saturday’s race. It was formerly a well-used marker on the Boat Race course. Other things between Putney and Mortlake may come and go but pubs (and churches) tend to stay.

*Tab – a nickname for Cambridge students (a contraction of Cantabrigian) usually used as a term of derision by those from Oxford.

Cambridge women in practice 2015. Photo: Tim Koch.

Many adherents to the Light or the Dark Blue have had a hand in bringing the Women’s Oxford and Cambridge Race to the men’s course. Two of the most prominent talk to Christopher Dodd.

Two days before the annual Boat Race – the 161st for Oxford and Cambridge’s men and the first on the famous Putney-to-Mortlake tidal course for their women – the waterfront is abuzz with crews, launches, cameramen, scribes, snappers, sunshine, anticipation, wisdom, rumour and bullshit.

Come the day, and if nothing goes amiss with their tight schedule, the two men who will heave the quietest sighs of relief will be Robert Gillespie, chairman of the Boat Race Company, and David Searle, executive director of the Boat Race. The two of them have played a major role in getting the men and women to join up, and Searle – with sterling work by the paid organiser Anne-Louise Morgan – has sweated for a year to bolt the women’s event onto a day of deep habits and tradition.

Oxford Women at Henley Boat Races 2014. Photo: Tim Koch.

The women’s race has a much more chequered history than the men’s. For the last several years it has been a 2000-metre race at Henley, and for a decade people have been saying to each other ‘Wouldn’t it be good if the women’s race moved to Putney’ – or, it is fair to say, reacting against such an idea. For a long time the consensus was ‘nice idea, someday’.

Robert Gillespie, chairman of the Boat Race Company. Photo: British Rowing.

This began to change when Gillespie, a Durham University graduate, was elected chairman of the Boat Race Company in 2009 (having run the Henley fixture for several years), the first non-Oxbridge graduate to take charge. He inherited an outfit with no reserves, and so the first thing he did was write a strategy paper that suggested getting the women to the Tideway. He was inspired by his visit to the rowing at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. He identified that the Boat Race, despite being second only to the London Marathon as the biggest free sports event in London, had a finite value – 20 minutes on one day, men only, restricted entry. He asked himself how value could be added. Put women in, and you double your value at a stroke.

The climate began to change as Blues and others looked outside the Boat Race box. It is a given that sponsorship is nowadays as essential as television coverage. This year’s Boat Race cost £2.5 million to support the four clubs involved and stage the races (£1 million of it for the week before the main event).

Most comes from BNY Mellon (men) and the bank’s associated company Newton (women). If there was no sponsor there would be no television, if there was no television there would be no sponsor. One of the benefits open to sponsors is graduate recruiting, and Gillespie points out that more and more corporations are equal-opportunity employers, who rule out support for one-gender enterprise.

Gillespie convinced himself that ‘we had to do this’. Three things had to be carried – the clubs, the universities, and the money. Oxford and Cambridge women’s clubs were talking amongst themselves before talking to each other, and then, lo, the men’s clubs were talking about it anyway. For the universities which bask in the publicity but play no role, the move was a no-brainer. They will get even more world-wide exposure. David Searle puts it like this: ‘The vice-chancellors now recognise that this is their biggest window to the world, and they have to be supportive of women.’

The money came when Newton agreed to support the women alongside BNY Mellon’s support of the men, having accepted Gillespie’s painstaking brief that it would take two years to get the women’s clubs fit for purpose for an annual four and a quarter mile race, and it may take a lot longer to produce races as exciting as the men’s recent record on the Tideway. He and Searle made a 24-hour dash to New York in 2011 to sign the deal that runs to 2017.

‘It is a credit to the sponsors that they have very little payback for two years,’ Gillespie says. ‘We explained that two years was required to prepare clubs for the move to Tideway. They needed professional coaches and new infrastructure. To be ready in 2015 we had to start in 2013.’

Gillespie explained all this in a quiet corner of the press centre in Thames Rowing Club, which is also HQ for the Light Blue women. He added that his strategy doesn’t stop here. He’s thinking about adding more value. He hides explosive ideas behind a soothing bedside manner. Why not a student competition involving other universities on the day before the Boat Race, following the theme of graduate recruitment and equal gender opportunities? Why not a student indoor rowing competition at Fulham football ground?

Like Gillespie, David Searle is the very reverse of a man who fills a room by entering through the door. Searle clothes his nerves in calmness, and admits to thinking, a year ago, that bolting the Women’s Boat Race onto the men’s would be a shoo-in – merely a matter of replicating everything that he and the race organiser arrange for the men’s race.

Oxford women’s trial eight s 2014. Photo: Tim Koch.

In reality, he had to re-examine every detail. The new race has to run an hour before the men’s race, a scheduling dictated by the BBC because the most important camera is the one that follows the race on the umpire’s launch. The launch has an hour to drop off the women’s umpire and return to Putney to pick up the men’s umpire – without raising a huge wash on the course because the men’s reserves race between Isis and Goldie starts before it reaches Putney (the women’s reserves, Osiris and Blondie, will have raced the previous day).

Launches are a headache. Seven will follow the women, a dozen the men, while the Isis-Goldie race gets only its umpire’s tin fish (not including the police and safety launches). The knock-on effect also requires the toss for stations for the women to be held early, and there is no longer time to film the crews walking to their boats two-by-two to take their seats.

Cambridge women’s trial eights 2013. Photo: Tim Koch.

The change has also caused the umpires’ panel to grow from six to eight with the addition of Sarah Winckless and Judith Backer who this year will act as reserve umpires for the men’s and women’s races respectively.

These are the nuts and bolts of the day, but Searle and Morgan have spent interminable hours in meetings with stakeholders and partners, sponsors and broadcaster, four riparian councils, the Met and the Marine Police, the Coast Guard and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Transport for London and the Port of London Authority. Boat Race week itself is dawn-to-dusk busy-ness – arranging outing times for the eight crews involved, press conferences, umpire briefings, starts off stake boats, launch drivers’ rehearsal and emergency procedures.

David Searle, executive director of the Boat Race. Photo: Tim Koch.

The Boat Race has well-researched risk assessment and contingency plans, especially since the intervention of the demented swimmer a couple of years ago. Searle’s worst nightmare – and the BBC’s – is if the women’s race suffers a delay. He has brought his own touch to the new women’s race by presenting them with a 2015 gold sovereign for the toss (the men use an 1829 sovereign presented by the renowned radio commentator John Snagge). He deserves a fine day of perfect timing and feisty racing for the effort he has put in.

He sums it up himself: ‘We have to remember that everything flows from the Boat Race. It is the oldest team event in existence.’

End of 2014 Boat Race. Photo: Tim Koch.

Tim Koch reports with images from yesterday’s Tideway Week:

History above their heads:

Perhaps Steve Trapmore, the Cambridge men’s coach, is contemplating what lessons can still be learned from Steve Fairbairn, the famous Cambridge, London and Thames coach.

The Oxford men’s coach, Sean Bowden, at his base for the week, a building originally constructed for the great boat builder, John Hawkes Clasper.

In the same boat:

Oxford are in the Empacher that they have used for the last two races, Acer.

Cambridge have a new boat, but it is also in ‘go faster yellow’.

Down by the riverside:

Goldie (Cambridge men’s reserves) discuss tactics in the morning haze.

The Oxford boatman arranges the boots belonging to Isis (Oxford men’s reserves) in crew order, ready for their return from their outing. I suggested that he put ‘L’ or ‘R’ on them as well.

Oxonian aquatics:

The Oxford Blue Boat goes afloat.

Oxford row away from Hammersmith Bridge.

Blues and boat working in harmony.

Calling on the reserves:

Isis in action.

Osiris – Oxford women’s reserves.

Goldie in a spin.

Meeting the press gang:
Formerly two, now four press conferences are held on the Thursday of Tideway Week with the coach, president and cox from the men’s and women’s squads of both universities meeting the press. It is election time in Britain so we are used to people trying to sound confidant and attempting to talk a lot without saying too much. One day in the future a coach may admit that the opposition is better. Until then, they will continue to say that they are ‘relaxed and confident’.

Oxford’s coach Sean Bowden, cox Will Hakim and president Constantine (‘Stan’) Louloudis. Photo: Tim Koch.

Cox Hakim is unworried.

The Oxford Blue Boat goes afloat.

The Oxford women’s Blue Boat cox, Jennifer Ehr, makes an amusing reference to the sinking of her crew earlier in the week.

Then and now:

Oxford in their Putney boathouse, 2015.

Oxford in their Putney boathouse, 1872.

Artist Nick Botting’s The Oxford Blues at the Portland Gallery.

HTBS’s Hélène Rémond writes from London:

On 6 April 2011, HTBS published my “Artist Nick Archer and His Rowing Art”. Four years later, on last Thursday, I met another artist named Nick by the Thames riverside. Born in 1963 and based in London, painter Nick Botting set up his easel on the Embankment, near Thames Rowing Club. He works on sporting themes. Cricket, football, tennis and rowing inspire him. “I was commissioned to paint the first FA Cup taking place at Wembley Stadium”, he says.

Rowing events are very exciting according to him. He captures small moments in time and the people, on a panel or on canvas, in all sorts of dimensions. He likes to see how people stand and move in their environment. He portrays physical links, like relation between people and the river.

“It gives a sense of floating. You relate to the water and the environment better. As to the Boat Races, it means the excitement of something special”, he says. “There is also the drama, the repetition rowing represents is good for painting. I’m interested in the patterns. I paint rowers getting in or out of the boats. Otherwise, they are all in line”.

He has followed the Boat Race event on and off for about 8 years. He doesn’t miss the regatta in Henley either. He sometimes paints in a café or in a theatre, but what he likes most is to paint en plein air. Painting alfresco probably helps him relate to his environment too. “If you copy a photograph, it kills it”.

People passing by come and say how fond they are of the warm tones of his works. Deborah is one of them. She likes the semi-finished painting: “I guess you take it further in your mind, your imagination develops”, she says.

Nick Botting’s next exhibition will take place in October 2015 at Portland Gallery in London. For more information go here.

You can also visit his website to see his paintings at different galleries here.

At the Oxford men’s Putney base, the Westminster School boathouse, the flags of both the University and the School have been at half-mast as a mark of respect to Dan Topolski, an alumnus of both institutions.

Here is Tim Koch’s third picture report from Tideway Week:

The Crabtree Boathouse (Cambridge Alumni) flying the ‘Cambridge Blue’ flag of the Blue Boat and the ‘gold’ flag of Goldie, the Reserve Boat.

The Oxford women’s Blue Boat, stroked by 32-year old Caryn Davies, ‘the most decorated Olympic athlete to ever compete in any of the Boat Races’. She has gold medals from stroking the U.S. Women’s Eight in Beijing and London and a silver from Athens. She also has four World Champs and five World Cup golds. Sometimes, a coach’s choice is easy.

Osiris, the Oxford women’s reserves, had a slight clash with a Cambridge launch in the morning. No damage was done – as events later in the day were to prove.

Osiris return from their last outing before their race later in the day.

Osiris take their eight into the simple but pleasing building that is Imperial College boathouse, the base for the Oxford women during Tideway Week.

The Cambridge men’s Blue Boat: stroke Henry Hoffstot and cox Ian Middleton, both veterans of the 2014 Race.

Cambridge under scrutiny at Hammersmith.

Cambridge at Harrods – but no time for shopping.

Oxford won the Veterans’ Race by a greater margin than this picture suggests. A full report will follow.

Osiris won the women’s reserves race by a ‘very comfortable’ margin. Again, a full report will follow.

Oxford and Cambridge crews. Photo: http://www.theboatrace.org

Christopher Dodd reports from Putney:

A historic Boat Race day was turned into a clean sweep clothed in dark blue by Oxford. They won the first Putney-to-Mortlake women’s race by a runaway. They won the 161st men’s race by a ruthlessly proficient butt round the outside of the Surrey bend into wind and spray.

They won the men’s reserves race when Isis captured the lead over Goldie between Chiswick Steps and Barnes Bridge. On the previous day Oxford’s women’s reserves, Osiris, dismissed Blondie by 15 lengths.

A huge crowd toasted the arrival of sunshine and the women’s Boat Race on the Championship course and witnessed the Oxford crew in a boat called Catalyst, stroked by the American Olympic champion Caryn Davies, power away to a half-length advantage in little over a minute. They looked fine and began as they intended to proceed, confirming all pundits’ predictions (one said they’d have time to stop at Hammersmith to attend to make-up before receiving the silverware. Sorry about that – he, for of course it was a he, meant it as a joke). They opened clear water inside three minutes and disappeared into the west while watching Cambridge growing smaller behind them. Their name was already all but on the magnificent new trophy presented by sponsors Newton. The verdict was 7 lengths.

An hour after the women’s race, I followed the men’s race aboard the press launch Majestic. Cambridge had won the toss and chosen the favoured Surrey station. They were not quite straight when umpire Boris Rankov (who holds the record of six consecutive wins for Oxford) started the race. They had a little wobble while Oxford were right on the button. Soon we were dip-and-bucketing spray into camera lenses as the race exploded. Cambridge’s Ian Middleton did his best to push Oxford far toward the Middlesex shore and off the best of the tide. It was a close and hard to Hammersmith, with Oxford clocking one second advantage at the Mile and Hammersmith Bridge. Cambridge were in the lead passing the end of the boathouses in Putney, though from our position hard to Surrey, it was hard to tell who was a seat or two up.

The turn through Hammersmith Bridge gave Cambridge the lead again briefly, and it was here that they must do a big push if they are to shut their opponents down. It was Oxford, however, who torpedoed a course into a strengthening headwind and ripplier water. When Chiswick Steps came along they had moved in line ahead of the Light Blues to add their wash to Cambridge’s woes. Barring accidents, Oxford were home, and accidents there were none. A brilliant piece of sustained and stylish rowing, to a verdict of 6 ½ lengths.

Constantine Louloudis, president of the Dark Blues, said: ‘We were steely in the wind. From five strokes into the race I knew we were going to do this, although our warm-up was pretty shoddy. It’s such a relief. I had nightmares about winning three of the races and losing as president.’

Sean Bowden, Oxford’s coach, said: ‘This was a particularly good crew. I’m really chuffed about it. You’ve got to win the races you should win and try to pinch the others you might not be expected to win. Each year you try to be better than the year before. There is a great psychology to racing. We made our move at the right time.’

Steve Trapmore, Cambridge’s coach (and Olympic champion in GB’s 2000 eight) said afterwards: ‘We were beaten by a faster crew.’ One has to agree with him. ‘Things aren’t going our way for a few years now and that is hard to live with. Every year we have made a significant step up and we were physically at the top of our game this year. We can’t recruit better rowers – academically we are the top university in the world. There is lots of good stuff, masked by the binary win or lose aspect of the boat race.’

If 11 April was a day without controversy – no clashes, equipment breakages, collapsing rowers, swimmers or emergencies – it could be relied on to produce stats.

First time the Light and Dark women have raced on the men’s course (though they have twice raced on the Tideway since their fixture began in 1927).

Oxford’s Louloudis, a GB world champion, joins a small elite who have won four BRs on the trot.

First time two brothers from New Zealand have rowed in the BR.

Four Harvard men in the Oxford boat.

Largest crowd ever (according to Sir Matt Pinsent).

Thirteenth Boat Race win for Bowden who coached Cambridge before settling at Oxford, a record that beats the late Daniel Topolski who won 12 for Oxford. Bowden paid tribute: ‘I keep looking round expecting Dan to be there,’ he said. ‘Toppo’ would have been thrilled the manner of this result. The Oxford crew honoured him by printing his name on the cuffs of their racing vests.

So, it was an exhilarating Boat Race, but more important than that, the day of the 161st men’s Boat Race produced another stunning First after such a long history. While waiting for the crews to complete their warm-up downstream of Putney Bridge, the press launch Majestic slid alongside the umpire’s catamaran Ecocat to deliver a pizza for Ecocat’s pilot. As I say, the Boat Race delivereth another first.

Bold = winner; * = leading crew

THE BOAT RACES 2015

Putney to Mortlake (4 ¼ miles)

Men: Oxford beat Cambridge by 6 ½ lengths in 17 minutes 34 seconds

Record time: 16 minutes 19 seconds by Cambridge in 1998

Men’s reserves: Isis (Oxford) beat Goldie (Cambridge) by 3 lengths in 18 minutes 11 seconds

Women: Oxford beat Cambridge by 7 lengths, 19 minutes 45 seconds

Record time (P to M): 19 minutes 45 seconds by Oxford in 2015

Record time (Henley): 5 minutes 44 seconds by Oxford in 2006

Reserves: Osiris (Oxford) beat Blondie (Cambridge) by 15 lengths, 18 minutes 58 seconds

HENLEY BOAT RACES 2015

Henley on Thames (2000 metres)

Lightweight women: Cambridge beat Oxford by 3 feet, 6 minutes 26 seconds

Lightweight men: Cambridge beat Oxford by 4 feet, 5 minutes 55 seconds

Oxford V Cambridge: The Score

Men’s Boat Race: Oxford 79, Cambridge 81, 1 dead-heat

Men’s reserves: Isis 22, Goldie 29

Women’s Boat Race: Oxford 29, Cambridge 41

Women’s reserves: Osiris 20, Blondie 23

Lightweight women: Oxford 15, Cambridge 17

Lightweight men: Oxford 16, Cambridge 25

Oxford women
Bow – Maxie Scheske (Magdalen), Anastasia Chitty (Pembroke, President), Shelley Pearson (St Cross), Lauren Kedar (Exeter), Maddy Badcott (Wadham), Emily Reynolds (Trinity), Nadine Graedel Iberg (Lincoln), Str Caryn Davies (Balliol), Cox Jennifer Ehr (Pembroke).

Cambridge women
Bow – Fanny Belais (King’s), Ashton Brown (Fitzwilliam), Caroline Reid (Jesus, President), Claire Watkins (Clare), Melissa Wilson (Caius), Holly Hill (Downing), Daphne Martschenko (Homerton), Str Hannah Evans (Selwyn), Cox Rosemary Ostfeld (Hughes Hall).

Oxford men
Bow – Will Geffen (Keble), Tom Swartz (Keble), Henry Goodier (Oriel), James O’Connor (Lady Margaret Hall), Jamie Cook (St Cross), Michael Disanto (Trinity), Sam O’Connor (Christ Church), Str Constantine Louloudis (Trinity, President), Cox Will Hakim (Univ).

Cambridge men
Bow – Jasper Holst (Hughes Hall), Luke Juckett (St Edmund’s), Joshua Hooper (St Edmund’s), Alex Leichter (St Edmund’s, President), William Warr (Queens’), Matthew Jackson (St Edmund’s), Ben Ruble (Hughes Hall), Str Henry Hoffstot (Hughes Hall), Cox Ian Middleton (Queens’).

Source – River & Rowing Museum

London Rowing Club, Boat Race Day 2015.

Tim Koch writes:

I have often noted that for something to appear unchanging, in reality it must constantly if subtilely evolve. In rowing, this is no better illustrated than looking at Boat Race Day, a unique event dating from 1829 whose popularity continues in a very different age to the one in which it was conceived. The usual complaint from those outside (and a few inside) rowing is that ‘The Day’ is now too commercial. As is usual with those who hark back to some ‘golden age’ (that usually never actually existed) they forget just how bad things actually were before the change about which they rail against. Before professionalism (i.e. before sponsor’s money) the 4 1/4 mile event was a race only until the fitness ran out (around Hammersmith) and then it was a procession to the finish. Many people did not realise this until the television age when they could see these facts for themselves, previously disguised by radio commentators’ florid descriptions or pressmen’s purple prose.

It is sometimes held that Boat Race Day would continue to exist even if it were still informally organised by a few Old Blues in a bar. This ignores that fact that organisers of events are increasingly legally responsible for the safety of any crowds that their occasion attracts – a great expense that someone has to pay for. Passing over this, if the Boat Race were still run as it once was, it would not have the relevance or support that it had from the public in the days when they were enthralled by virtually any spectacle that they did not have to pay for and were much more amused by a lot less than today’s more sophisticated consumers.

This year, of course, there was the momentous event of the Women’s Race taking place over the full Putney to Mortlake course on the same day as the men. After happening once, could anyone conceive of it not continuing? It has clearly boosted interest in Boat Race Day and I suspect that most of its new fans will continue to support it long after the novelty of the new race has worn off.

There follows my not entirely serious illustration of how Boat Race Day has changed and how it has stayed the same in its 186 years.

On the balcony

Oxford 1907 at London Rowing Club.

Oxford 2015 at Westminster School Boat Club.

The toss for stations

By chaps in a boathouse, 1875.

By the Women’s Boat Race crews in the media spotlight in 2015.

Going afloat

Cambridge putting their boat on the water, 1868.

Oxford putting their boat on the water, 2015.

Cambridge boating, 1872.

Cambridge boating, 2015.

Oxford in the camera’s eye, 1910.

Oxford in the camera’s eye, 2015.

The Oxford stroke, 1914.

The Oxford stroke, 2015.

The start

Oxford and Cambridge, 1926.

Oxford and Cambridge Women, 2015.

The race

A sketch from the press boat.

A photograph from the press boat.

The finish

The winning crew goes ashore, 1863.

The losing crew goes ashore, 2015.

Happy winners

Oxford, 1891.

Osiris, 2015.

More Boat Race stories to follow over the next week….

Göran R Buckhorn writes:

Last week, I read in the Daily Telegraph that actor Michael Sheen is going to play George Mallory in a film about the mountaineer, who died on a Mount Everest expedition in 1924. Mallory’s fellow climber, ‘Sandy’ Irvine, Oxford Blue in 1922 and 1923, also died on this expedition. While Mallory’s body was found in 1999, Irvine’s body has never been discovered. What was not mentioned in the Telegraph article was that Mallory also was an oarsman. Rowing for Magdalene College, Cambridge, he never made it into a Blue boat.

I sent out a Tweet about this upcoming film, and almost immediately received a re-Tweet from Daniel Spring (a.k.a. ‘Fatsculler’), who mentioned that he wanted to see a film about oarsman Alan Burrough. We all have our rowing heroes and for sure Burrough was a real character, who is worth a good film about his interesting life.

James Frain as Jack Beresford, Matt Smith as Bert Bushnell and Sam Hoare as Dickie Burnell.

In 2012, in time for the London Olympics, a film was released about two of my ‘heroes’, British 1948 Olympic double sculls champions Bert Bushnell (played by Matt Smith) and ‘Dickie’ Burnell (Sam Hoare). The film, Bert and Dickie (in the USA called Going for Gold), is far from perfect – a rowing history buff will easily find several things to complain about, though there are much worse rowing movies out there, i.e. True Blue (1996) about the 1987 Oxford Boat Race Mutiny and The Boy in Blue (1986) about Canadian professional world champion sculler Ned Hanlan. Rowing historians Chris Dodd wrote this about Bert and Dickie and HTBS’s Tim Koch wrote this.

I have my own list of rowers, whom I believe have lived interesting lives that filmmakers should take notice of:

Jack Wilson & Ran Laurie

Ran Laurie & Jack Wilson, the other 1948 Olympic British Olympic rowing champions. Laurie also stroked the British four-placed eight in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, and always claimed that if his rowing partner Wilson had been in the crew, they would have medalled. Both Laurie and Wilson left for service in Sudan, and after not having touched an oar for ten years, came home to England where they raced at Henley, won the Silver Goblets and represented Britain in the Olympic rowing at Henley and won a gold medal. This is quite a story, read more here.

Noel Duckworth, 1945. © Michael Smyth.

Noel Duckworth, Cambridge cox, who steered the British eight in the 1936 Berlin Games. He later served as Chaplain to the 2nd Battalion, Cambridgeshire Regiment and was sent to Malaya in 1941. As a POW, he showed extreme bravery and saved many soldiers, who otherwise would have been killed by the Japanese soldier and camp guards. A remarkable man. Read Tim Koch’s story about him here.

A brilliant young man, David Winser.

David [Michael de Reuda] Winser, an Oxford Blue in 1935, 1936 and 1937, a charming, bright young man who was a poet, novelist, mystery writer and soldier. As a doctor in the Royal Army Medical Corps, he was killed on 1 November 1944 at the Battle for Walcheren in the Netherlands. Read more about this brilliant man here.

Lewis Clive, the red Blue.

Lewis Clive, an Oxford Blue in 1930 and 1931, won the Silver Goblets at Henley with Jumbo Edwards in 1931 and 1932. The latter win gave the duo a ticket to the 1932 Olympic Games, where they easily won the gold medal in the pairs. Clive joined the Labour Party and as a man with socialist view, in May 1938, he later signed up in the British Battalion of the International Brigade to fight against Generalissimo Franco’s national forces in Spain. In August 1938, leading his men to take Hill 481 – by the British Battalion called ‘The Pimple’– Company Commander Lewis Clive was hit in the head by a sniper’s bullet. This led to the unique occasion in London that both The Times and the communists’ newspaper, The Daily Worker, published obituaries about him. Read more about him in Tim Koch’s “Lewis Clive: The Red Blue”.

Tom B. Langton, a Jesus College oarsman, who rowed in the Boat Race for Cambridge in 1937 and 1938. He wrote the Introduction to Steve Fairbairn’s pamphlet Rowing in a Nutshell (1936). During the North African Campaign in the Second World War, Langton and a group of his men made a grandiose escape from Tobruk to El Alamein. Langton ‘bullied’ his men for two months across 400 miles of desert to reach the British lines, for which he received the Military Cross. After the War, he became Captain of the London RC.

Five-time Olympian, Jack Beresford, Jnr.

All the above on my list are Blues, so let me wrap this up with a non-Blue, who really doesn’t need an introduction if you are an avid reader of this website, Jack Beresford, Jnr, who took five Olympic medals between 1920 and 1936. A lot of information about Beresford you will find here.

Two ‘biography’ films are in the works, one about American Olympic champion Jack Kelly and one about the Olympic champions the Boys in the Boat, based on Daniel James Brown famous book.

Now, which rowers would you like to see memorialised on the big screen? Write their names in a comment below! You never know if BBC and Hollywood are reading these pages…..

Fifty shades of blue: A view of the Oxford – Cambridge Boat Race start from Putney Bridge.

This is a repost of Chris Dodd’s Boat Race report first put on HTBS on 12 April, but this time including pictures by Tim Koch and Hélène Rémond. Hélène’s photographs are marked HR.

Christopher Dodd reports from Putney:

A historic Boat Race day was turned into a clean sweep clothed in dark blue by Oxford. They won the first Putney-to-Mortlake women’s race by a runaway. They won the 161st men’s race by a ruthlessly proficient butt round the outside of the Surrey bend into wind and spray.

They won the men’s reserves race when Isis captured the lead over Goldie between Chiswick Steps and Barnes Bridge. On the previous day Oxford’s women’s reserves, Osiris, dismissed Blondie by 15 lengths.

The Isis – Goldie looked hopeful for the Cambridge Reserves at the start.

A convincing win for the Oxford Women’s Reserves in the Osiris – Blondie race.

A huge crowd toasted the arrival of sunshine and the women’s Boat Race on the Championship course and witnessed the Oxford crew in a boat called Catalyst, stroked by the American Olympic champion Caryn Davies, power away to a half-length advantage in little over a minute. They looked fine and began as they intended to proceed, confirming all pundits’ predictions (one said they’d have time to stop at Hammersmith to attend to make-up before receiving the silverware. Sorry about that – he, for of course it was a he, meant it as a joke). They opened clear water inside three minutes and disappeared into the west while watching Cambridge growing smaller behind them. Their name was already all but on the magnificent new trophy presented by sponsors Newton. The verdict was 7 lengths.

The Women’s Boat Race – the start.

The Women’s Boat Race – the finish. (HR)

A loss for Cambridge…. (HR)

…..but a victory for women’s sport. A banner on an apartment block next to Hammersmith Bridge. (HR)

An hour after the women’s race, I followed the men’s race aboard the press launch Majestic. Cambridge had won the toss and chosen the favoured Surrey station. They were not quite straight when umpire Boris Rankov (who holds the record of six consecutive wins for Oxford) started the race. They had a little wobble while Oxford were right on the button. Soon we were dip-and-bucketing spray into camera lenses as the race exploded. Cambridge’s Ian Middleton did his best to push Oxford far toward the Middlesex shore and off the best of the tide. It was a close and hard to Hammersmith, with Oxford clocking one second advantage at the Mile and Hammersmith Bridge. Cambridge were in the lead passing the end of the boathouses in Putney, though from our position hard to Surrey, it was hard to tell who was a seat or two up.

Oxford, a few strokes off the start, passing London Rowing Club.

Both crews passing Thames Rowing Club. As is common with rowing pictures, the parallax error makes the difference between the crews appear greater than it was. Also, rowing pictures tend to be ‘long and narrow’, so click on them to view properly in full screen.

Passing Barn Elms.

At the Mile Post.

Approaching Harrods.

Hammersmith Bridge.

The turn through Hammersmith Bridge gave Cambridge the lead again briefly, and it was here that they must do a big push if they are to shut their opponents down. It was Oxford, however, who torpedoed a course into a strengthening headwind and ripplier water. When Chiswick Steps came along they had moved in line ahead of the Light Blues to add their wash to Cambridge’s woes. Barring accidents, Oxford were home, and accidents there were none. A brilliant piece of sustained and stylish rowing, to a verdict of 6 ½ lengths.

At St Paul’s School.

Cambridge at Chiswick Crossing.

Oxford at Chiswick.

Along Corney Reach.

Through Barnes Bridge.

The finish at Chiswick Bridge.

Constantine Louloudis, president of the Dark Blues, said: ‘We were steely in the wind. From five strokes into the race I knew we were going to do this, although our warm-up was pretty shoddy. It’s such a relief. I had nightmares about winning three of the races and losing as president.’

Two National Treasures. Broadcaster Clare Balding surprised many when she chose to present the Boat Race rather than her beloved Grand National horse race. ‘There will never be another first women’s Boat Race on the Tideway. The Grand National doesn’t need my help, women’s sport does’ she said. ‘Stan’ Louloudis’s win means that he is now only one of fourteen Blues who have ever won four Boat Races. (HR)

Sean Bowden, Oxford’s coach, said: ‘This was a particularly good crew. I’m really chuffed about it. You’ve got to win the races you should win and try to pinch the others you might not be expected to win. Each year you try to be better than the year before. There is a great psychology to racing. We made our move at the right time.’

Steve Trapmore, Cambridge’s coach (and Olympic champion in GB’s 2000 eight) said afterwards: ‘We were beaten by a faster crew.’ One has to agree with him. ‘Things aren’t going our way for a few years now and that is hard to live with. Every year we have made a significant step up and we were physically at the top of our game this year. We can’t recruit better rowers – academically we are the top university in the world. There is lots of good stuff, masked by the binary win or lose aspect of the boat race.’

The Cambridge bow three perhaps reflect on the ‘binary aspect’ of the Boat Race.

If 11 April was a day without controversy – no clashes, equipment breakages, collapsing rowers, swimmers or emergencies – it could be relied on to produce stats.

First time the Light and Dark women have raced on the men’s course (though they have twice raced on the Tideway since their fixture began in 1927).

Oxford’s Louloudis, a GB world champion, joins a small elite who have won four BRs on the trot.

First time two brothers from New Zealand have rowed in the BR.

Four Harvard men in the Oxford boat.

Largest crowd ever (according to Sir Matt Pinsent).

Thirteenth Boat Race win for Bowden who coached Cambridge before settling at Oxford, a record that beats the late Daniel Topolski who won 12 for Oxford. Bowden paid tribute: ‘I keep looking round expecting Dan to be there,’ he said. ‘Toppo’ would have been thrilled the manner of this result. The Oxford crew honoured him by printing his name on the cuffs of their racing vests.

Oxford men and women become pop stars.

Oxford cox Hakim suffers the thanks of his crew. (HR)

So, it was an exhilarating Boat Race, but more important than that, the day of the 161st men’s Boat Race produced another stunning First after such a long history. While waiting for the crews to complete their warm-up downstream of Putney Bridge, the press launch Majestic slid alongside the umpire’s catamaran Ecocat to deliver a pizza for Ecocat’s pilot. As I say, the Boat Race delivereth another first.

Bold = winner; * = leading crew

THE BOAT RACES 2015

Putney to Mortlake (4 ¼ miles)

Men: Oxford beat Cambridge by 6 ½ lengths in 17 minutes 34 seconds

Record time: 16 minutes 19 seconds by Cambridge in 1998

Men’s reserves: Isis (Oxford) beat Goldie (Cambridge) by 3 lengths in 18 minutes 11 seconds

Women: Oxford beat Cambridge by 7 lengths, 19 minutes 45 seconds

Record time (P to M): 19 minutes 45 seconds by Oxford in 2015

Record time (Henley): 5 minutes 44 seconds by Oxford in 2006

Reserves: Osiris (Oxford) beat Blondie (Cambridge) by 15 lengths, 18 minutes 58 seconds

HENLEY BOAT RACES 2015

Henley on Thames (2000 metres)

Lightweight women: Cambridge beat Oxford by 3 feet, 6 minutes 26 seconds

Lightweight men: Cambridge beat Oxford by 4 feet, 5 minutes 55 seconds

Osiris, winners of the Women’s Reserves race.

Some consolation for Cambridge. The Light Blue men’s and women’s lightweights both won their events at the Henley Boat Races by a few feet. They also won the men’s Spare Pairs race on the Tideway. Picture: Sarah Harbour.

Oxford V Cambridge: The Score

Men’s Boat Race: Oxford 79, Cambridge 81, 1 dead-heat

Men’s reserves: Isis 22, Goldie 29

Women’s Boat Race: Oxford 29, Cambridge 41

Women’s reserves: Osiris 20, Blondie 23

Lightweight women: Oxford 15, Cambridge 17

Lightweight men: Oxford 16, Cambridge 25

Oxford women
Bow – Maxie Scheske (Magdalen), Anastasia Chitty (Pembroke, President), Shelley Pearson (St Cross), Lauren Kedar (Exeter), Maddy Badcott (Wadham), Emily Reynolds (Trinity), Nadine Graedel Iberg (Lincoln), Str Caryn Davies (Balliol), Cox Jennifer Ehr (Pembroke).

Cambridge women
Bow – Fanny Belais (King’s), Ashton Brown (Fitzwilliam), Caroline Reid (Jesus, President), Claire Watkins (Clare), Melissa Wilson (Caius), Holly Hill (Downing), Daphne Martschenko (Homerton), Str Hannah Evans (Selwyn), Cox Rosemary Ostfeld (Hughes Hall).

Oxford men
Bow – Will Geffen (Keble), Tom Swartz (Keble), Henry Goodier (Oriel), James O’Connor (Lady Margaret Hall), Jamie Cook (St Cross), Michael Disanto (Trinity), Sam O’Connor (Christ Church), Str Constantine Louloudis (Trinity, President), Cox Will Hakim (Univ).

Cambridge men
Bow – Jasper Holst (Hughes Hall), Luke Juckett (St Edmund’s), Joshua Hooper (St Edmund’s), Alex Leichter (St Edmund’s, President), William Warr (Queens’), Matthew Jackson (St Edmund’s), Ben Ruble (Hughes Hall), Str Henry Hoffstot (Hughes Hall), Cox Ian Middleton (Queens’).

Source – River & Rowing Museum

Hold the back page! The Hear The Boat Sing reporting team – Tim Koch, Hélène Rémond and Chris Dodd.

Where it all starts: University Stone at Putney.

Tim Koch writes:

My final item on Boat Race Day 2015 is a random collection of pictures that were not used in previous posts but which I think are still worth publishing.

A Goldie Retriever?

An Oxford supporter. I am not sure of his college, possibly Woofson or Wetnose, but not Pembroke (which is only for corgis).

The stake boats at the start.

Putney Embankment. On the left is Thames, the temporary home of the media centre, and on the right is Imperial College, the temporary home of the Oxford women.

To the left of Thames and Imperial College (pictured above) is Vesta RC, Ranelagh Sailing Club, Westminster School BC, Crabtree BC, Kings College School BC and London RC.

The roof of IC provides a good viewing point.

BBC presenter Clare Balding announces the arrival of the Oxford Women on the Embankment.

Royal Marines provide security on the water during racing but are also responsible for a little ceremony when they deliver the trophies by Inflatable Raiding Craft.

Three Cambridge Old Blues wearing the cap of the Cambridge Archetypals. According to the author of Rowing Blazers, Jack Carlson, ‘The legend of how you get the rainbow-striped blazer of the Cambridge Archetypals is as follows: You have to row in the Oxford – Cambridge boat race three times, have gotten a third in your degree….. and spent three nights in jail’. I think the key word here is ‘legend’.

Three hours before the race, Cambridge President Alexander Leichter receives final good wishes from a friend.

Cambridge won the ‘spare pairs race’ from the Mile Post to the finish. Picture: Twitter.

The Women’s Boat Race, a few strokes in.

The Isis – Goldie start with parallax error.

The Isis – Goldie start without parallax error.

Auriol Kensington Rowing Club at Hammersmith viewed as the men’s race passed.

The men’s race flotilla at the White Hart pub, upstream of Barnes Bridge.

Blondie after their 15 length defeat by Osiris.

Osiris celebrate with a group hug.

The Boat Race is a win/lose event. This lot won. Picture: Hélène Rémond.

Malmö in April: down at Malmö Roddklubb, where a club quadruple is training for Henley Veterans Regatta this summer. Bow Janne Andersson, 2 Håkan Christensson, 3 Thomas Barge and Stroke Per Ekström.

Göran R Buckhorn writes from Malmö, Sweden:

With the children off from school, my family and I went to my old hometown Malmö in the south of Sweden to visit my mother, family and friends. Of course, I dragged the whole family down to my Swedish rowing club, Malmö Roddklubb, where my dear friend Per Ekström, newly elected president of the club, had organised a ‘Club Pub’ – what a nice gathering it was. More than 25 old friends showed up during the evening and it was nice to see them all and once again ‘swing a glass’ of beer among friends.

However, there is more than beer drinking going on at the club. Right now, a club quadruple is training for ‘Henley Vets’ this summer. They look very serious in the boat at least….. HTBS will cover this year’s regatta, which is a week after ‘Henley Royal’.