Oxford, the heaviest crew in Boat Race history, won the 151st edition of the event on the River Thames here on Sunday. The crews were neck-and-neck for the first mile or so before the Dark Blues pulled away for a convincing win over Cambridge.
It was the third win in four years for Oxford, beaten last year in a controversial encounter following a clash of oars, who weighed in at an average of 15st 6.5lbs (216.5lb, 98kg), giving them an advantage of more than a stone and a half a man over Cambridge.
Oxford winner Barney Williams, who was part of the Canadian coxless four dramatically denied Olympic gold by Matthew Pinsent’s British crew last summer, said afterwards: ”It’s just not possible to tell you the elation that we feel at this point. It’s just amazing.”
When asked how it compared with the Olympics, he added: ”This is way better because we did it and get to sit back and savour this.
I’m going to come back next year and if we do not win, it will suck.”
Cambridge lead the series with 78 wins to Oxford’s 72 with the race’s only dead heat taking place in 1877. – Sapa-AFP