Cambridge came into the race with the upper hand over Oxford after securing back-to-back victories, including 87 victories compared to their rivals’ 81
Cambridge cruised to their third straight victory over rivals Oxford in the Boat Race to complete a double win for the men’s and women’s teams on Sunday. It was a crushing defeat for Oxford as they fell behind Cambridge and lost by a huge margin, despite predictions of a tight race beforehand.
There was a delay to proceedings of around 10 minutes while officials cleared some debris from the water, further adding to the nerves and anticipation.
As the race finally started, Cambridge were warned several times to move further away from the Oxford boat before they took the initiative and never let their lead slip.
It’s estimated that Cambridge won the race by around 17 seconds, capping off a miserable day for Oxford.
It came after Cambridge won the women’s race over Oxford for an eight straight time, with both teams forced to contend with an early restart.
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Umpire and Olympic rowing legend Matthew Pinsent stepped in to stop the race after Oxford’s boat clashed with Cambridge’s just two minutes in.
Cambridge were handed a third-of-a-length advantage after restarting and it proved to work in their favour as they secured their 49th victory over their rivals.
Cambridge University Boat Club president Luca Ferraro said: “It’s an indescribable feeling crossing the line ahead after so many months of hard work. I asked a lot of the guys and they really delivered.”
Oxford: Tom Sharrock, William O’Connell, Felix Rawlinson, Jamie Doran, Tassilo von Mueller, Tom Mackintosh, Nick Rusher, Nicholas Kohl. Cox: Tobias Bernard.
Cambridge: Luca Ferraro, Noam Mouelle, Luke Beever, Gabriel Mahler, George Bourne, James Robson, Simon Hatcher, Douwe de Graaf. Cox: Ollie Boyne.
