At 46, James rows into the history books
GOODWIll overflowed from every apartment, all inches of the towpath and the packed pubs close to the majestic water on which James Cracknell was defying time.
the old partisanships, light blue or Dark blue, were not entirely suspended for the day but slightly tempered because, at the age of 46, the double Olympic champion was trying to win the boat Race, and he had come back from the edge of death to do so.
He only managed it, too. ‘Uncle James’ as the undergrads affectionately mock him, simply rolled back the years for Cambridge. and when the job was complete he slumped over his oar. He was spent. not even a fist pump.
Perhaps he suddenly felt every day of his age as assuredly as he had been impervious to the ravages of the clock during the 16min 57sec he and his crew had spent beating Oxford by a length in the 165th staging of this brutal rivalry.
back on the hard at Mortlake, Sir Matthew Pinsent, the giant knight with whom Cracknell won gold at Sydney and athens, was shaking his head in bewildered admiration. ‘nobody will ever do that again in the history of the boat Race,’ he said. ‘It defies explanation.’ Well, since this jamboree started during the reign of George Iv, no rower — win, lose or tie — has got within a decade of the venerable Cracknell. and to think that in 2010 he almost died while cycling across america when he was hit by a fuel truck travelling at 70mph. He suffered a frontal-lobe brain injury and was put into an induced coma. there in a Phoenix hospital he regained consciousness a few days later but started muttering nonsense. nurses restrained him from climbing on an imaginary bike. He hugged his running shoes. He believed he was on a bus with Gary lineker. It has been a long journey back, one that has wound through hardships as well as highlights. Indeed, only in the last fortnight he and his tv presenter wife beverley turner, mother of his three children, announced their separation. the theme of Cracknell’s life is finding new everests to climb — a race to run or row, a televised hardship to endure, the more improbable the better. What next, he wondered when he had climbed out of the two seat last night. ‘tomorrow is going to be hard,’ he admitted. ‘It’s going to be empty. that’s when real life starts. tomorrow there are three important people in my life that I’ve got to make sure I’m there for.’ So even as the Cambridge minibus pulled away last evening with laughter and cheers and english sparkling wine, there was a melancholic undercurrent to Cracknell’s joy of an hour or so earlier.
Pinsent was asked if he was concerned for his old pal. ‘I am not worried about him, well, no more than normal,’ he said. ‘I’ve known him, the James saga, since he was 18 and he has always had his ups and downs.
‘If it was going to go wrong, it would have gone wrong in the Phoenix hospital. If he can get through that, this is a walk in the park. Doing the boat Race at 46 and seeking all sorts of challenges, well, it is just an odd way to live your life.
‘there is nothing wrong with him mentally. but with the brain injury his decision-making was undoubtedly impaired. you would have said then he is going to do well even to walk again.
‘What more can he do? Rowing across the atlantic is no longer good enough. north Pole, South Pole, old hat. Marathon des Sables, been there, done that.. What else is there to do? that will be a big question for him.’
the race itself took place in calm. the flag at St Mary’s Church by Putney bridge had brewer’s droop. Cambridge were up by half a length by Fulham Football Club and then clashed blades through their own recklessness. they led by clear water before halfway. but Oxford clung on, testing those 46-yearold legs in the opposition boat.
the Dark blues appealed to umpire Rob Clegg at the end over the clash. Disqualification? Well, put it this way, there’s never been one yet.
Cracknell, who now has to complete his one-year MPhil in Human evolutionary Studies, said: ‘I thought I can do without a rerow.’ a reasonable point by the old boy.