Cambridge take double first as Boat Race is moved from the Thames to deter crowds gathering under Covid restrictions
The Boat Race, which was cancelled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, returned to the sporting calendar yesterday – but the traditional showdown between Cambridge and Oxford universities didn’t take place on the River Thames.
For the first time since the Second World War, the contest was moved away from its usual residence in London to the River Great Ouse in Ely in Cambridgeshire.
Concerns over social distancing, as well as work currently being carried out on Hammersmith Bridge in London, meant the rowers competed between the Queen Adelaide Bridge in Ely and the Sandhill Bridge in Littleport, a straight stretch of just over three miles (4.89km), instead of the usual 4.2 miles (6.8km).
Cambridge’s recent stranglehold on the event continued as they pipped Oxford in both the men’s and women’s races.
As many as 250,000 spectators usually line the Thames to watch the race, but no-one was allowed to gather yesterday and it was hoped the
slightly more rural destination would act as a deterrent.
It’s not the first time that the universities have raced along the River Great Ouse. It first happened in 1944, during the Second World War. Back then, the crews competed unofficially along the Adelaide Straight, in the opposite direction to yesterday. For the record, Oxford won that one.
The narrower Great Ouse presented moments of drama yesterday. Olympic bronze medallist Sarah Winckless, the first woman to umpire the men’s race in this 166th edition, repeatedly warned Cambridge cox Charlie Marcus to alter his crew’s line as they drifted in from the right of the river bank to the centre.
It was a bold strategy from
Cambridge, who nevertheless avoided a clash of oars as they hit the front early on. While Oxford stayed hot on the heels of their great rivals, they were never able to reel them in.
There was also a moment of concern when Winckless warned of reeds in the middle of the river but the crews passed them without incident.
Earlier in the day, in the women’s race the lead changed hands three times, with Oxford cox Costi Levy being repeatedly warned by the umpire for not giving space to their rivals, before the light blues finally held sway.