Tideway week is well underway as the Oxford and Cambridge crews start gearing up to what will be the 156th Boat Race.
I joined OUBC for a training outing on the Thames this Tuesday.
BBC weather forecast said heavy rain shower, but as the reserve boat Isis emerges from the boathouse, the sunshine is beginning to break through the clouds for their second outing of the day.
12:45 boat on the water.
9 pairs of wellies look to be the only thing staying on dry land.
Cox Adam Barhamad will be steering the boat this Saturday, having coxed the Isis boat to victory against Goldie last year.
Far right: President Sjoerd Hamburger is the only returning Blue in the boat. At 2.06m he is the tallest member of either crew. Sitting behind him at 3 and 4 are the Winklevoss twins, or perhaps more commonly known as ‘the Facebook Twins.’
After a short warm up, the crew embarks on some practice starts.
And chat those through with the coaches.
The waters turn choppy as the crew passes Hammersmith Bridge.
Left: Chief Coach, Sean Bowden has been with Oxford for the last 18 years. This year he hopes to secure a hatrick of doubles, with both the reserve boat Isis and the Blue boat securing victories over their Cambridge counterparts.
The two crews spin and head back to the Putney boathouses. For any Oxonian rower, the blade work of the Dark Blues can only be described as perfection.
We pass some Tabs in a boat.
Both crews come into land just as the heavens begin to open.
Boat away. What the Dark Blues make look like the most strenuous part of the outing.
