The 2008 Boat Race ended with the slowest winning time for more than sixty years, but this was far more indicative of the weather than the standard of racing, which was as fierce as the sky above and waves below. Helicopters circled overhead and thousands hugged the banks of the Thames to watch Oxford reaffirm their recent dominance over Cambridge, and continue a satisfying trend which has now seen them win three out of the last four races, narrowing their all-time deficit tantalisingly to just five.
For Cox Nick Brodie the victory was especially magical. Much of the subsequent boat race coverage has justifiably focused on the 21 year-old, for whom revenge proved as sweet as ever. Having endured a frankly horrific few years of varsity rowing, he finally and perhaps inevitably fought back against all the odds to claim a doubly meaningful personal victory. He claimed that “losing the Isis-Goldie race in my first two years and then the main race last year was devastating, but looking back now, the way my four years have unfolded here at Oxford with the highs and lows has just made the victory that little bit more special.”
However despite Brodie’s own fairytale story, the Oxford performance was ultimately defined not by any one individual but by the solidarity and focus of a team which had to drag its way not only through the rugged waters of West London but also the increasing politics which has surrounded the contest in recent years. Last year saw the boat race’s heaviest ever participant, Thorsten Engelmann, sensationally quit his course at Cambridge just days after their victory, leading to accusation, claim and counter-claim between the two camps. The particularly high level of animosity since that race not only meant that the stakes were higher than ever, but also that when the race began and the first oars were swept through the water, the action itself was a welcome return to rowing with oars as opposed to voices.
Pre-race favourites Oxford appeared to have gained the initial advantage by the time they sped past Craven Cottage – home of the varsity football defeat just a few hours before – but Cambridge remained within touching distance. The two crews passed Hammersmith Bridge neck and neck, with blades almost overlapping amidst repeated warnings from the umpire. At this point Cambridge seemed to be taking control, with Oxford’s rowing for a time appearing lethargic, despite remaining rhythmic.
As the boats passed Chiswick Eyot however, the team seemed to collectively realise there was actually the possibility of defeat, and at this point Oxford’s tempo and aggression noticeably increased. The Dark Blues pushed ahead round the outside of the Surrey Bend, and moving from half a length to clear water within 30 strokes, they already seemed almost certain to satisfy pre-race predictions of a comfortable win, powering into a lethal rhythm that the Light Blues simply couldn’t keep up with. An elated Brodie described how during this part of the race, “we noticed them cracking and we jumped on them”, and Mike Wherley was equally subtle when he assessed the way in which Oxford “stood on their necks”. It was aggression such as this, combined with power and technique, that Cambridge understandably struggled to match during the race, and the distance between the boats continued to increase as Oxford ruthlessly maintained the pressure: the final 22 second margin of victory was judged to be 6 lengths, a statistic which certainly didn’t flatter Oxford, although perhaps failed to do justice to Cambridge who valiantly fought against the Dark Blue’s superior power and erg scores.
So Oxford, as expected, were just a little too strong for their adversaries, and despite the weather playing heavily into the Dark Blue’s hands, their performance would have surely warranted a victory whatever the conditions. But it should be remembered that the first half of the race was very tight – Brodie claimed “it took us half the course to find our rythm” – and so, whilst in retrospect a repeat of 1877’s dead heat was always unlikely, the race was certainly more hard-fought than a glance at the winning margins might suggest.
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