Cambridge continued to assert their dominance in the historic Boat Race this past weekend following a clean sweep across the board for the Light Blues, completing a third consecutive win for the men’s first crew and an eighth consecutive win for the women’s Blues. Alongside these tremendous accomplishments, Cambridge rowers won the reserve and lightweight races, with both lightweight crews making history by setting new course records.

“There was even a touching testament from the women’s side to the PGCE athletes who missed out, as their Blue boat was christened with the name, ‘Molly, Kate, and Matt’”

This rowing season certainly hasn’t been easy for Cambridge. The lead up to the event was marred with controversy concerning the eligibility of Cambridge athletes studying for a PGCE, and three Cambridge rowers were subsequently barred from racing. The men also faced setbacks in the build up to the race as Simon Hatcher fell sick the day before, causing a seat change in the boat. Nevertheless, both the men’s and women’s sides overcame these challenges and managed to come away with commanding wins. There was even a touching testament from the women’s side to the PGCE athletes who missed out, as their Blue boat was christened with the name, ‘Molly, Kate, and Matt’.

Both the Blues races had their own tumultuous beginnings. The women’s boats clashed just minutes into the race, after which the umpire, Matthew Pinsent, debated disqualifying the Oxford crew, but instead called a restart from where the two crews had collided. Five–seat of the Cambridge boat, Sophia Hahn, who caught a crab during the clash, spoke to Varsity after the incident, explaining that “we stayed calm as a crew, stayed collected, and just got on with it. This boat was probably the most together crew I’ve ever rowed with”. This became apparent in the period right after the restart, as Cambridge pulled ahead from the get–go. The Cambridge cox, Jack Nicholas, cut in front of Oxford as soon as there was enough open water between the two boats for it to be a legal move. From that point on, Cambridge continued to extend their lead for the rest of the race, winning by 2 ½ boat lengths of open water.

“We found this rhythm that we’ve been targeting over the last few days, we settled into it, and once we found that, we were unbreakable”

The start of the men’s race was delayed by several minutes due to a log floating on the racecourse, which forced the crews to sit on the start line while it was cleared away. When the race began, the umpire Sarah Winckless gave some warnings, but there were no clashes and Cambridge were able to pull away early, extending their lead to 5 ½ lengths by the time that they crossed the finish line. Simon Hatcher reflected on their astonishing lead, telling Varsity: “We found this rhythm that we’ve been targeting over the last few days, we settled into it, and once we found that, we were unbreakable. We just knew that Oxford would slowly slip behind us if we were able to settle into that rhythm.”

The level of commitment required to compete in any of the races that went on  is astonishing. Athletes from both universities train for upwards of 17 hours a week and simultaneously undertake highly difficult degrees. To these athletes, victory in the Boat Race means absolutely everything. The bow of the Cambridge women’s Blue boat, Katy Hempson – who had been overcome with joyous tears at the finish line – captured the gravity of the winning moment, saying: “It’s incredible, it’s something you’ve always dreamed of. I’ve watched it for a few years, I’ve done it for a few years, but it’s like nothing else.”