It’s double win for Cambridge rowers
CAMBRIDGE stormed to victory in both the men’s and women’s Boat Races yesterday.
After a commanding victory from the women earlier in the afternoon, Cambridge’s male competitors followed their lead by taking a commanding lead in the early stages and seeing it through for victory.
They powered to a five second lead by the mile post and continued to pull away to secure the win, despite a warning for cutting in front of the Oxford boat too early.
But after regaining their composure, they produced a composed performance, continually extending their advantage right up to the finish.
“Every other race I’ve done here, I’ve felt so nervous, but I felt really calm,” Cambridge cox Hugo Ramambason said.
“We wanted to get a good start, keep moving and earn the right to win the race.
“Last year was real tough, but the attitude in the squad has been so good.”
Head coach Steve Trapsmore, who steps down after seven years to join Team GB, added: “The boys really stepped up and delivered.
“They took it up from stroke one and bang, they were off. In this race, so many things can go wrong, but you could tell they were on the money today.”
Earlier in the day, the Cambridge women’s team retained the title for the first time since 1999 with a similarly dominant display.
The back-to-back victories marks an incredible turnaround from their disastrous 2016 race, where they nearly sank.
In the end, the gap between the two sides was a convincing 20 seconds, just short of the 11-length win of last year.
“We just knew we had to go out there and do a job,” said winning cox Sophie Shapter.