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The Boat Race 2009

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155th Boat Race
Date29 March 2009 (2009-03-29)
WinnerOxford
Margin of victory3 and 1/2 lengths
Winning time17 minutes 35 seconds
Overall record
(Cambridge–Oxford)		79–75
UmpireBoris Rankov
(Oxford)
Other races
Reserve winnerGoldie
Women's winnerOxford
← 2008 2010 →

The 155th Boat Race took place on 29 March 2009. Oxford's crew was the heaviest in the event's history and which featured five Olympic rowers, including silver medallist Colin Smith and bronze medallist George Bridgewater. Cambridge took an early lead, only to be caught and overtaken by Oxford who won the race by three-and-a-half lengths.

In the reserve race, Cambridge's Goldie defeated Oxford's Isis, while Oxford won the Women's Boat Race.

Background

The Boat Race is an annual competition between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. First held in 1829, the competition is a 4.2-mile (6.8 km) race along The Championship Course on the River Thames in southwest London.[1] The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities and followed throughout the United Kingdom and worldwide.[2] Oxford went into the race as reigning champions, having won the 2008 race by six lengths,[3] while Cambridge led overall with 79 victories to Oxford's 74 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877).[4] The race was sponsored by Xchanging for the fifth consecutive year.[5]

The first Women's Boat Race took place in 1927, but did not become an annual fixture until the 1960s. Up until 2014, the contest was conducted as part of the Henley Boat Races, but as of the 2015 race, it is held on the River Thames, on the same day as the men's main and reserve races.[6] The reserve race, contested between Oxford's Isis boat and Cambridge's Goldie boat has been held since 1965. It usually takes place on the Tideway, prior to the main Boat Race.[3]

Crews

Oxford crew at the start
Cambridge crew at the start (cox Dowbiggin has her hand raised to indicate she and her crew are not ready to start)

The Oxford crew (sometimes referred to as the "Dark Blues")[7] weighed an average of 8 pounds (3.6 kg) per rower more than the Cambridge crew (sometimes referred to as the "Light Blues"),[7] making them the heaviest in Boat Race history.[8] Oxford fielded five rowers who had featured at the 2008 Summer Olympics: Colin Smith won silver for Great Britain,[9] while Ante Kušurin rowed for Croatia,[10] New Zealander George Bridgewater won a bronze in the coxless pair,[11] Sjoerd Hamburger rowed for The Netherlands,[12] and Tom Solesbury for Great Britain.[13][14] Cambridge's crew contained five returning Blues to Oxford's three.[14]

The crews for the race were as follows:

Seat Oxford
Cambridge
File:University of Cambridge coat of arms official.svg
Name Nationality Age Name Nationality Age
Bow Michal Plotkowiak Polish 27 Rob Weitemeyer Canadian 26
2 Colin Smith (P) British 24 Henry Pelly (P) British 25
3 Alexander Hearne American 25 Deaglan McEachern American 25
4 Benjamin Harrison American 23 Peter Marsland British 24
5 Sjoerd Hamburger Dutch 26 Ryan Monaghan American 24
6 Tom Solesbury British 28 Hardy Cubasch Australian 28
7 George Bridgewater New Zealander 26 Tom Ransley British 23
Stroke Ante Kušurin Croatian 25 Silas Stafford American 22
Cox Colin Groshong American 24 Rebecca Dowbiggin British 25
Source:[14][15][16]
(P) – boat club president

Race

Boris Rankov (pictured in 2015) was the race umpire.

Cambridge won the toss and elected to start from the Surrey station.[17] Cambridge's cox Dowbiggin raised her hand to indicate that she was not ready to start just as Umpire Boris Rankov started the race.[18] This allowed Oxford the initiative and they took an early lead. Cambridge slowly edged their way back into contention, and held a half-a-length lead at the two-mile mark.[17] At St Paul's School, Cambridge were two-thirds of a length ahead before a series of oar clashes and umpire warnings forced the boats apart. A larger clash, between Cambridge's Monaghan and Oxford's Smith,[18] took place by Chiswick Eyot before Oxford made the better recovery and quickly pushed out to secure a clear-water lead.[18] Cambridge failed to threaten, and Oxford won by three-and-a-half lengths.[19]

In the reserve race, Isis defeated Goldie by four lengths, completing the race in a time of 17 minutes 24 seconds, for their second consecutive win.[3] Oxford won the Women's Boat Race by one-and-a-quarter lengths, hosted at Henley on 22 March 2014.[17][3]

Reaction

Oxford's boat club president Colin Smith said "it's a great, great feeling".[19] He continued: "The difference between the two crews today was our power, aggression and stickability".[17] Cambridge's Australian international Cubasch said "it's really devastating. Sometimes you'd be happy with a silver but here it's dead last."[18] His coach, Chris Nilsson, admitted "at the end of the day, the stronger crew with the more power came through".[19] Oxford coach Sean Bowden said "We just said 'get to halfway, and head for home’, and they did a really good job".[18]

References

  1. ^ Smith, Oliver (25 March 2014). "University Boat Race 2014: spectators' guide". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  2. ^ "Former Winnipegger in winning Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race crew". CBC News. 6 April 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d "Boat Race – Results". The Boat Race Company. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  4. ^ "Classic moments – the 1877 dead heat". The Boat Race Company. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  5. ^ "Boat Race sponsor Xchanging to end contract". BBC News. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  6. ^ "A brief history of the Women's Boat Race". The Boat Race Company Limited. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  7. ^ a b "Dark Blues aim to punch above their weight". The Observer. 6 April 2003. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  8. ^ "Oxford weigh in as heaviest ever". BBC Sport. 19 March 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  9. ^ Quarrell, Rachel (2 October 2009). "Great Britain's Olympic silver medallist Colin Smith quits rowing, despite London 2012". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  10. ^ "Croatia Rowing at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games". Sports Reference. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  11. ^ Quarrell, Rachel (25 March 2009). "George Bridgewater confident that Oxford are hitting top form". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  12. ^ "Sjoerd Hamburger". ESPN. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  13. ^ Brown, Peter (9 April 2009). "Is there a link between management and rowing?". The Independent. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  14. ^ a b c Quarrell, Rachel (19 March 2009). "Oxford University crew weigh-in as the heaviest ever ahead of the Boat Race". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  15. ^ "Olympians picked in Oxford crew". BBC Sport. 4 March 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  16. ^ "Cambridge issue 2009 Boat Race challenge". University of Cambridge. 25 November 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  17. ^ a b c d "Boat Race triumph for Oxford again". University of Oxford. 30 March 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  18. ^ a b c d e Quennell, Rachel (29 March 2009). "Oxford defeat Cambridge in 155th Boat Race". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  19. ^ a b c "Oxford triumph in 155th Boat Race". BBC Sport. 29 March 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
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