Men’s Race
No doubt the crew, with countless thoughts of how it could have gone the other way, will pour many hours into watching this video but first and foremost it highlights the high quality and standard of Oxford lightweight rowing this season. Whilst down on the start, they pushed Cambridge the whole way, never allowing them to break out into clean water and drew agonisingly close at the finish. Having spent far too many hours watching rowing videos myself, I can say without any doubt that I’ve never been more on the edge of my seat as the clash drew closer and closer. Tom Clode steered a brave line and he will return to Christ Church with fantastic experience under his belt. It is impossible to tell how things would have panned out had the clash not happened. Oxford was definitely making a finishing surge but we’ll never know if it would have been enough.
Womens’ Race
The women’s race was a similar story. Unlike the men they were up off the start with much stronger bladework and an excellent rhythm than their light blue counterparts. The girls in dark blue were unlucky to be beaten by a very strong Cambridge crew. Again, the two crews drew closer and closer together as a clash drew nearer along the course although in the end no significant contact occurred. Coming into the closing stages, anyone can see that our girls gave beyond 100% and drew back strongly on their opponents. The shock on Cambridge’s faces when the result was announced is a testament to the unbelievable turnout of the race.
If you have been inspired to take rowing to a higher level by what you’ve seen here, get in touch with the clubs via email at [email protected] for the lightweight mens’ squad and [email protected] for the lightweight womens’ squad. Both teams run development squads over Trinity to get a feel for university trialling and to improving your rowing.
